Aqua Mystery
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: With Heckyl now revealed, the Rangers are still reeling from all the surprises they've faced lately. However, could the reveal of the identity of the elusive Aqua Ranger be the pleasant surprise they need?
1. Aqua Mystery

**Legal:** I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, characters, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.

 **Rating:** T – may be some adult themes, including language and violence.

Riley was getting dressed for a run. Thanks to Heckyl's recent attack on the restaurant, they all had a couple of very welcome days off while the cafe was being fixed up. They were all spending the time in their own way. The fact that it fell on a weekend, giving the whole team an all too rare weekend off was just a bonus.

Riley looked to where Ivan and Chase were playing videogames and just shook his head in disbelief, laughing a little.

"Egad! I've been killed again?" Ivan yelled, gesturing wildly to the screen. "These scoundrels are indeed Dark Souls! They interrupted my quest again!"

"They're trolls Ivan." Chase explained to him. "It happens all the time in on-line gaming."

"They don't even fight with any skill! They simply tumble into me repeatedly with Armour of Thorns!" He complained as he went to re-start his game. "Why they can't simply join us on a quest instead of attacking in this unfuriating..."

"They're trolls!" Chase reiterated.

"I don't see what their species..."

"He means they're people who go into other's games just to screw with them and piss them off." Riley told him. "I can't believe you guys are going to spend all day in here playing video games anyway. It's an amazing day outside! Why don't you get out and do some training?"

"Riley, we've been over this. You relax your way, and I relax mine." Chase told him, throwing a cashew nut into the air, catching it in his mouth.

"I on the other hand am finding this simulation to be most compelling." Ivan declared. "Even if it IS most irritating when other people show up to ruin my quest. Get away from that pick-up you varlet! I vanquished the guard! Oh, running away are you! Taste my steel!"

Tyler showed up, beginning to get his stuff together. Riley gestured to him.

"See, Tyler agrees with me, don't you?" Riley answered. "It's far too nice to sit inside..."

"Actually, I'm going up to the local mines." Tyler told them.

"The mines?" Chase asked, turning around in his seat. "You get a weekend off for the first time in weeks, and you want to go to some mines?"

"This is indeed curious." Ivan agreed, his curiosity piqued by this. "At least when I go to mines it is to gain...Oh don't you dare take those gems you...you TROLL!"

"You might want to be careful with language like that around Leanne." Riley reminded them. "Her uncle IS half-troll."

They heard a noise from out in the hall and stopped in their tracks.

"What was that?" Riley asked. They headed out into the hall, finding Kendall and Shelby struggling with some boxes as they headed for Kendall's apartment.

"Whoa, what's all this?" Chase asked.

"This would be called moving!" Shelby told them. "Ms Morgan kindly agreed to let me move in!"

"Move in?" Tyler asked her. "You're moving in there?"

"I don't recall you ever extending such an invite to any of us." Ivan said as he stood with his hands on his hips.

"Shelby and her father could use a little space from each other, and I was willing to help out." Kendall told them. "Speaking of helping out, since you all seem to be at a loose end..."

"Actually...I was about to go for a run." Riley said, heading down the hall. "But these guys were just playing video games! I'm sure they'd be only too happy to help!"

"Actually, I've got someone I need to see over at the mines." Tyler told them, bringing out the letter. "This was left on my jeep."

"Rusty Galloway?" Shelby said as she read it. "I knew he knew more than he was letting on!"

"He said he wants to talk to me." Tyler said as he gestured to the letter. "I think he might know something about my dad! He's working up at the local mines doing a land survey."

"You're going up there to see him now?" Shelby asked him. Tyler took the letter back.

"It says he wants to see me today." Tyler stated. "I don't know how long he's going to be working in the city. I have to see him today."

"Tyler, when I spoke to Rusty, he wasn't exactly very forthcoming. In fact, he really didn't have much good to say about your dad at all." Shelby said, remembering her somewhat less than friendly conversation with the man after the lecture she had gate-crashed with Erin. "It also said he was the last to see your dad. I think you should prepare yourself for the fact that what he has to say...might not be what you want to hear."

"So you're saying I should give up?" Tyler snapped at her. "You're saying that now that I've finally got someone who has something to say..."

"I just want you to be ready for the fact that whatever he says might not be good news." Shelby told him. Tyler gave her a look that could kill, before storming away. "Tyler, please...Tyler!"

"I understand you mean well, but perhaps it might be for the best for Tyler to hear him out, even if it isn't good news." Ivan told her. Just then, there was a noise further down the hall, and they turned to see a girl struggling up the stairs with a couple of boxes.

"Whoa, when you asked me to help you move, I didn't know you had this many books Shelbster." Erin complained. Ivan was quickly down the hall, and grabbed a couple of the boxes off her.

"Here, allow me to be of assistance." He said, helping her. Erin smiled as she saw him.

"Wow, um...thanks." She stated.

"It is my pleasure my good lady." Ivan said as he took the boxes and went up the hall. She came up to Shelby and pulled the Pink Ranger in. "Who is your friend?"

"What?" Shelby asked, continuing to look down where Tyler had gone. "Oh, um...that's Ivan."

"Maybe helping you out won't be such a wash out after all." Erin said as she adjusted her grip on the box she was still carrying.

Meanwhile, over on the ship, Fury was in the medical bay, strapped into one of the machines when he heard someone coming in. Strapped to the table as he was, he struggled to see as the door opened, but eventually the new arrivals came in. Snide and Wrench brought a creature that Fury had never seen before into the medical bay, coming around into view.

"What's going on?" Fury asked. "Who is this?"

"Check on our new ally, I want to ensure he's at 100% when he faces the Rangers!" Snide instructed Wrench.

"Oh, believe me, I'm perfectly fine. I have a headache, but that's to be expected." Singe stated stroking his forehead.

"Wrench, can you give him something for that?" Snide asked him.

"I doubt he could do anything that would make a difference." Singe stated. "My biology is best suited to significantly warmer climates with much higher pressures. My kind normally resides in a planet's mantle. When we venture above ground, the reduced pressure..."

"The pressure inside your head pushing out increases." Wrench surmised.

"Quite." Singe told them. "The systems in my asteroid counteract that, but on the planet's surface, I just have to grin and bear it for the most part."

"Who is this?" Fury demanded again, struggling to get out of his bench. Singe looked to him and gave him a knowing smirk.

"Why, I've heard of this one, I believe you used to be Sledge's partner, the infamous Fury. I'm right aren't I?" He asked. "My my, someone does appear to have had a rough time of things."

Fury was in the medical bay recovering from his wounds at the hands of the Aqua Ranger. He had been attacked while he was fleeing a Ranger battle, and already injured. In his fury, the Aqua Ranger had all but finished him off. It was only his good luck that the Aqua Ranger had broken off the battle to help the other Rangers that allowed him to escape with his life. Now though, it was Wrench's technology that was keeping him alive, allowing him to heal wounds that by all rights should leave him an invalid were they left to their natural state.

"You know me, so you know..."

"I know that you've been on Earth for millions of years and you haven't managed to secure a single Energem." Singe teased him. "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll get your chance to get your own back on the mean children who beat you up."

"Why you..."

"Fury, you need to settle down!" Wrench told him, making some adjustments. "You need to be still if the machines are going to do their work properly!"

"Yes, you just rest up. Let the real warriors take care of the tough battles." Singe taunted him. He looked to Snide. "Now, can I get somewhere private to recover from my journey? I just want to rest up for a couple of hours or so.

"Take any cell you want." Snide told him. "Then get out there and show me what you can do."

"I'll find suitable accommodations." Singe assured him, before heading out of the room. As he left, Wrench looked to Snide.

"Are you sure we should trust him so readily?" Wrench asked him. "Maybe we should have a guard..."

"Who cares what he gets up to?" Snide told him, looking down on Fury with disgust. "If he can bring me an Energem, I might have to make some serious decisions about my staffing."

Tyler pulled up his jeep by the mines, parking just on the outside of the fence. He approached the gate, where a guard held up a hand to stop him.

"Sorry kid, this is private property." He told him.

"Yeah, I've got an appointment here." Tyler said to him. "I'm here to see Rusty Galloway."

"Do you have any ID?" He asked. Tyler handed over his drivers' licence. "One moment please."

Tyler waited patiently while the guard made a call down. He could see the guard giving him some suspicious glances, wondering why someone so young would want to come and see Rusty at an active mine. He came back over, putting his phone away.

"Alright, he's agreed to see you. I just need you to sign this and this." The guard told him. "This one's a waiver saying that you'll comply with all the health and safety regulations of the mine and absolving them of responsibility if anything happens. The other is a non-disclosure agreement. You won't be allowed to discuss anything you see in the mine with anyone."

Tyler quickly signed both forms. He'd been in far more dangerous caves than a regulated mine before completely by choice, and he didn't really care what they were digging up in the area. Once he heard whatever Rusty had to say, he really didn't care about the mine afterwards.

"Alright, here's a hard hat and a visitor's pass. You'll be required to wear those at all times inside the mine." He told Tyler, handing them and the driving licence to the Red Ranger. "Take the lift down, and you should find him at the bottom."

"Thanks." Tyler said as he put on the pass and the hard hat, before heading for the lift. It astounded him how long it took them to go down. It took nearly twenty whole minutes for the elevator to reach the bottom. The heat was stifling down there, and by the time he stepped off the elevator, he came into a huge clearing. Even down here, they were still a long way from the face. Tunnels ran off in several directions, and they were so vast there were actually trucks driving around in and out of the tunnels, carrying materials and workers. He looked around, and seeing someone coming past, he stopped him.

"Hey, I'm here to see Rusty Galloway." He stated. The man just looked up.

"HEY, RUSTY!" He called out. Tyler saw a man at a wooden table, covered in maps and charts looking up. There were a couple of others with him, but the one he was looking for, he recognised from some of his dad's pictures. He looked older, but it was unmistakably him. "You have a visitor!"

Rusty waved Tyler over, and said something to the others, sending them on their way with his instructions. A he got to the table; Rusty extended a hand, which Tyler accepted, shaking it.

"My God, as I live and breathe, Tyler Nevarro." He commented. "Jesus, you must have been about this big when I last saw you."

"You remember me?" Tyler asked him. Rusty just laughed.

"It'd be hard not to, James used to talk about you all the time!" He responded. Tyler furrowed his brows as Rusty gestured to him to take a seat.

"James?" He asked. "My dad's name was Neil."

"Well...yeah, it was but...you know he got into some scrapes and was found a few places he wasn't meant to be, so he used James to avoid a lot of heat." Rusty told him. "I guess it kind of stuck, because I called him that pretty much the entire time I knew him."

"I have a friend, Shelby. She talked to you recently at the university..."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. Please, try not to take it personally." Rusty said to him, pulling out a flask and offering Tyler some coffee, which he politely refused. "James is...kind of a touchy subject for me. I was the last one to see him alive, and I've had a lot of people ask me about him ever since. When I found out you were here though, I figured if I should talk to anyone about what I know, it should be you."

"So when did you last see my dad?" Tyler asked him. Rusty took a deep breath as he prepared to begin.

"Alright, a lot of this isn't going to make any sense, but I need you to bear with me." Rusty warned him. "Your dad and I went out on a ship one time, looking for an island. Unfortunately our navigator was...well...it turned out he was drunk as all hell. We sailed for about four days in what turned out to be completely the wrong direction, before we hit some bad weather or something."

"Bad weather?" Tyler asked him. Rusty nodded his head.

"It's weird, it was like one minute we had completely clear skies and a silky-smooth ocean, the next, we're getting thrown around like a beach ball. I've never seen or experienced anything like it! Eventually, we got to the shore of an island. The weird thing was, there wasn't a cloud in the sky when we landed. The ship needed some repairs, so your dad, naturally, decided we should explore."

"You went with him?" Tyler asked him. Rusty just smiled.

"Of course, the island was just...like nothing I'd ever seen before! It was practically built on a volcano! The rock formations and mineral deposits just lying around were like nothing I've ever seen before, or since! Once we found some caves, we went in exploring."

"That definitely sounds like my dad." Tyler answered with a smile.

"We were exploring a huge cave network. We found some great formations. We went deep, maybe a lot deeper than we should have. We just kept finding treasure after treasure, the kind of thing that would make both of us famous...millions of times over! Then, everything started to go wrong. There was a tectonic shift, probably because of the volcano. The cave started to collapse.

Tyler gulped hearing this. He couldn't help thinking about Shelby's warning, that maybe Rusty was going to tell him something that he didn't want to hear.

"I tripped and fell as we tried to get out. James came back for me and saved my life, but then the cave collapsed around him." Rusty told him. "When the cave-in settled, I tried to dig him out, but there was so much rock...there was tons of it. We'd have needed heavy excavation equipment to get through it all. Tyler, your dad saved my life."

"But...he could have gotten out, right?" Tyler asked. This was the part that Rusty hated. He already knew the end to that story, but James had made it clear that he would tell Tyler himself if they confirmed it was safe that he was alive.

"Those caves...they went on for miles. Anything's possible." Rusty said in a non-committal way. "We waited as long as we could, but we ended up having to leave the island. We tried to go back to the island to confirm one way or another, but no matter how hard we tried...it was like the island had disappeared off the face of the Earth. You can imagine how much the Feds loved that story."

Tyler could empathise, because he knew one part of the story that Rusty didn't. The Rangers had found the Ankylo Zord on Gosei's island! The island was protected by technology that made it impossible to plot on a map, and nigh-near impossible to access unless one was invited. Gosei's island was close enough to the coast that it was possible they had found it once by accident, but then would be unable to find their way back. It was no wonder his search had hit a dead end. His dad was last seen on an island that as far as the rest of the world knew didn't even exist! Gosei's island was fertile, full of life, able to sustain species that were considered long since extinct in the rest of the world. If he had somehow gotten out of the cave, then it was plausible he would be able to survive on the island. His dad, if nothing else, was perfectly capable of living off the land.

"If anyone could find their way out, my dad could." Tyler declared. Rusty just smiled as he got up from the table.

"Well, you are your father's son, that's for sure!" He laughed. As Tyler picked up his stuff though, his Energem fell out of his shirt. Rusty stopped instantly, like he had seen a ghost. "Hey, that...that gem you have. Can I see it?"

"Yeah, sure." Tyler said, letting Rusty inspect it. Being a geologist, it was only natural that Rusty was interested to see an unusual specimen, but the way he looked at it, completely silently, he seemed like he was in a trance, and Tyler could swear he suddenly became very pale. "Where'd you find this?"

"Just on one of my hikes." Tyler lied as convincingly as he could. "It seemed that unique..."

"That my friend is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of find!" Rusty exclaimed as he handed it back. "That's really something! You be sure and hold onto that!"

"I intend to." Tyler answered. "Thanks for all your time Rusty."

As Tyler left, Rusty waited until the elevator was heading back up, before pulling out his phone.

"James? Tyler just left." He told him. "I think I can safely say I confirmed that your suspicions were right. He has one of those crystals, just like yours."

"Then I suppose it's up to me to make the next move." James answered. "Thanks for all your help Rusty."


	2. Enter Singe

Heckyl braced himself against a bulkhead as the energy dissipated and he tried to regain his bearings. The transformations were always painful, and always draining. It wasn't the worst part of sharing his body with Snide, the worst part was the loss of control, of watching his plans and actions going awry with no way of being able to stop them, but it did rank up there.

He pulled out a handkerchief, mopping his brow as he regained his composure, straightening out his clothing. While he could sometimes hear what was going on through Snide's sword, and if he opened the hatch, he could see some of what happened, it wasn't a sure thing. Most of the time though, he was just playing catch up when he was back in control, trying to figure out what Snide had been up to. He checked his watch, noting the time, but closing it before Snide could speak to him.

"I've been out of the loop far too long." He commented. "What has that fool Snide been fouling up now?"

He started to make his way towards the command room, hoping to find one of his underlings to intimidate into filling him in on the day's events. As he walked along though, he suddenly paused as he noticed something odd. Taking a few steps backwards, coming to the door of Fury's cell. He knew of Fury's injuries, and was well aware he was in the medical bay, but he had noticed, curiously, that there was someone in his cell. He knocked on the door frame, rousing the creature's attention. As it turned towards him, he didn't recognise this creature at all. He had gone over the prison ship's database several times, ensuring he was familiar with the inmates and what they could to, but this creature...he could not recognise at all.

"Excuse me, forgive me for interrupting your rest, but...who exactly are you?" Heckyl asked. Singe just sighed.

"Speak to me when I've rested." He stated. "I have a headache." Heckyl smiled at this creature's impertinence and coughed to regain its attention. Now he was sure it wasn't one of the inmates. All of the inmates knew much better than to speak to him in such a manner.

"Forgive me, I'm not sure you understand me, but...this cell, it belongs to one of my officers." Heckyl told him. "I also haven't seen you before, so let me ask...who are you and what are you doing on my ship?"

"I was invited here by Snide." Singe responded as he turned over, sitting up on the bed when he realised Heckyl wasn't going to let this go. "I apologise, I didn't realise it was you Heckyl."

"Well, it seems you have me at somewhat of a disadvantage. You know who I am obviously, now who are you again?" Heckyl said, becoming increasingly impatient, beginning to power up his hand. Wrench arrived, quickly interjecting himself between Heckyl and Singe.

"Master Heckyl, this is Singe!" Wrench informed him, speaking quickly to try and appease his boss, who never took his eyes off Singe for a second. "He arrived while you were...away. He's a powerful warrior who wants to help us get the Energems."

"He does, does he?" Heckyl responded, looking to him. "And what would YOU know about the Energems?"

"I know they have what everyone wants, limitless power." He said casually. "What could be more appealing than that?"

"And you wish to help us?" Heckyl asked him. Singe nodded in response.

"I will partner with anyone that can help me get the Energems." He told him. Heckyl's power subsided and he just gestured to the door.

"Well don't let me stand in your way." He answered. Singe just sighed and got up from the bed.

"I don't suppose I'm likely to get back to sleep anytime soon." He commented, making his way to the door. "Don't wait up."

As he left, Heckyl pulled Wrench close.

"Go with him." He told him.

"But Master Heckyl..."

"Keep an eye on him. He knows far too much for my liking." Heckyl surmised as he thought about it. He already knew about the Energems, he knew who he and Snide were, and he got a distinct impression from the way he spoke to him, that he was aware of the true nature of Heckyl and Snide. "I'd wager he knows a lot more than he's telling us, and if that's the case, I want to know what."

He gestured to the door, inviting Wrench to leave.

"Worst case scenario, if he does battle the Rangers and get destroyed, I'll have lost nothing." He stated. As he left to follow the mysterious new arrival, Wrench felt a deep panic within him. He didn't know whether it was more frightening when Heckyl and Snide seemed to switch from one plan to another with little to no warning, or when they seemed to agree on something!

Erin, Shelby and Kendall were in the apartment, moving stuff around and getting Shelby moved into the apartment. It was a two-bedroom, and Kendall had kind of been using the second room as a form of office in the interim. It wasn't much; if anything it was slightly smaller than the room Shelby had back at her dad's house, but she couldn't help feeling like this was a new start for her.

While her room at her dad's place had a lot of home comforts and suchlike, this room having been an office for so long seemed a lot more like a good study space. She could imagine herself sitting in here, studying textbooks well into the small hours of the morning. It wasn't like she wasn't going to have some home comforts, but in order to ensure her mind was on the task at hand, she kept it to a minimum, just her alarm clock, an N-Zed Boyz poster, and a picture of her family in a silver frame.

"Shelby!" Kendall called out, bringing Shelby's attention back. Shelby headed out into the main room, where Kendall, Erin and Ivan were arranging some of her other stuff around the communal area. Ivan was unpacking boxes, while Erin and Kendall were setting things up. She hadn't brought a lot with her, mainly books, DVD's and the likes, but they were just figuring out where to put everything. "I've noticed, a lot of these books, I have them in my collection. Do you think your dad would let you take some of these back home? It doesn't seem to make much sense to have two of everything."

"I...guess that makes sense." Shelby replied. "As long as you don't mind me borrowing them."

"Most of these textbooks I haven't used in years." Kendall assured her. "As long as I get them back in the condition you got them, that's all I care about."

"The one thing you can count on is I always take good care of books." Shelby said with a smile. She noticed Erin and furrowed her brows. "Erin, what are you doing?"

"Oh, just...enjoying the view." Erin said with a smile, staring at Ivan, who was bent down over a box, rummaging through it.

"I must admit, this side of the building does have the superior view." Ivan answered as he handed Erin out a stack of DVD's that she absent-mindedly put on a pile. "Which makes me wonder why you squeezed four of us into that one apartment when you had this spare room all along Ms Morgan?"

"Next time you slip on one of Chase's skateboarding magazines or stub your toe on one of Tyler's dumbbells, why don't you ask me that again?" Kendall asked him. "Anyway, this seems like a good place to take a break. Chase should be getting back with the pizza soon."

"Now THAT sounds like music to my ears!" Ivan said with a smile. "I just need to do something next door briefly."

As he left, Erin watched him go, and then smiled and looked to Shelby.

"Shelby, I have a serious bone to pick with you." Erin stated. "Where have you been hiding HIM?"

"Ivan?" Shelby asked, looking to the door, and then back to Erin. "Really?"

"Oh, I know about Tyler, but you can't tell me you haven't noticed he is kind of cute." She remarked. "That body, the hair...oh, and that accent! If I could just listen to a loop tape of him reading a phone book all day, I'd never get anything done."

"O...kay, moving on." Shelby responded, trying to change the subject. It wasn't as though she held it against Erin, Ivan was kind of attractive in his own way, but the way Tyler had stormed off, she had a feeling that he had taken what she said a lot more badly than she had intended. She didn't mean to sound like she believed his dad had died, but in trying to prepare him for the possibility that what Rusty had to tell him wasn't good news, she had a feeling he had taken it that way. Looking for a change of subject, she picked up a picture frame from the coffee table. There weren't many really personal items in Kendall's place, she imagined most of that kind of thing was in her room, but there were a few pictures. She recognised Anton Mercer from a couple of pictures, but this one was one was different. Kendall wasn't in the picture.

"Ms Morgan, who is this?" She asked her. Kendall took the picture from her and smiled.

"That's my G-m..." She stopped herself in time to stop herself using the nickname she had for her grandmother. "That's my Grandmother."

"Your Grandmother?" Erin asked her. "She's still alive?"

"ERIN!" Shelby hissed, smacking Erin for her lack of diplomacy. Kendall didn't seem to take much notice though.

"Oh, she's more than just alive, she'd probably run rings around all of us." Kendall told them, looking fondly to the picture. "She's really independent, she never sits still, she's always on some kind of adventure. Last time I wrote to her, she was going hiking in Alaska."

"She sounds pretty awesome." Shelby commented.

"She really is." Kendall said with a smile. Shelby could sense a kind of affection in Kendall's voice that she didn't hear often. "She drives my parents crazy. They keep offering to help out, but she's always so insistent on doing everything herself, she's gone and re-laid her garden path or re-plastered her kitchen before they know she even needs it done."

"Hasn't she heard of tradesmen?" Erin asked her. Kendall looked to her and shook her head.

"G-ma Betty always said, 'Never spend a penny when you can fix it yourself'." Kendall told them.

"Wow, between her and your aunt...a lot of stuff about you is making a lot more sense." Shelby commented. Kendall gave her a glare, before softening her expression and heading for the pile of books on the table.

"Why don't we figure out which books you can take back to your dad's for storage?" Kendall asked her. "Erin, you should find some iced tea in the fridge."

In another part of the city, Chase was skating along the path, weaving in and out of the people, while balancing a stack of pizzas in one hand.

"Whoa, head's up, coming through!" He called out, whizzing through the streets, before hopping down a flight of stairs, continuing on his way. He stood on the brake, skidding to a halt as he heard an explosion and screaming, before seeing people running away. It was an all-too-familiar sight for the Rangers. He could already see smoke and flames, so he knew that the monster couldn't be far away. Looking to the pizzas, and then back to the panicking citizens, he figured he was most likely the closest to the battle, and therefore it was up to him to be the first to respond.

"Thank God for microwaves." He said as he started up again. He was almost there when he saw Tyler also running for the battle. As they arrived, they found Wrench targeting some nearby offices, hitting them with blasts as people fled for their lives. They both morphed, skidding to a halt a little way from him.

"That's enough Wrench!" Tyler yelled, attracting his attention. He was in a rage given the day he'd had. He was angered earlier by Shelby's careless words, hearing her saying that he should consider that his dad was no longer alive. It was a possibility he knew, even if never allowed himself to dwell on it while there was even the slightest possibility that his father was alive. Until he saw for his own eyes, he held onto the uncertainty. Even a millionth of a one percent chance was enough to make it worth the search.

After hearing what Rusty had to say, he had a renewed hope. He had been handed a huge, missing piece of the puzzle. It was no wonder no one seemed to know where his dad had been when he disappeared. Gosei's island was concealed. They couldn't find it again to go looking for him! Now he had somewhere to look, there were things he could do. He could speak to the Corsairs about going back to the island. He could see if they had any maps or charts of the island that could narrow down where to look for him. Unfortunately, just as he was heading home to renew his search, he had seen the commotion and had to detour to engage. Today was not the day to cross the Red Ranger's path.

"What happened? Did you get a courage upgrade?" Chase asked him. "It's not like you to come out on your own to cause trouble."

"Who says I'm alone?" Wrench asked in response. They looked up as Wrench stood aside, watching as a monster made their way towards him. Singe stepped into view, standing before them as he observed them. He looked them up and down, like he was taking measure of the warriors standing before him, before looking to Wrench.

"These are the Rangers?" He asked the cyborg.

"Two of them anyway." Wrench answered. Singe just took a deep breath as he considered his options.

"So these are the heroes?" Singe said, beginning to stroke his forehead as he felt the pressure building again. "Heroes give me such a headache!"

"You'll have more than a headache if you don't clear off!" Chase warned him as he and Tyler called up their Dino Sabres, preparing for the fight. Unfazed, Singe pulled a blaster out of a holster on his belt.

"There's only one cure for a hero headache." Singe stated, before turning the blaster on them and opening fire. "BLAST THEM!"

Chase and Tyler tried to block, but even blocking the blasts, they hit with such impact that their weapons were nearly smashed out of their hands. Quickly realising the power that Singe had at his disposal, they immediately started to run for cover.

"HA! You're doing it! You've got them on the run..." Wrench started to say, before suddenly finding himself having to duck as Singe swept the blaster in his direction. It seemed this new arrival was more than a little trigger-happy, firing out enough blasts in quick succession to take out an army, but with seemingly no care given as to what, or indeed who, he was aiming at! "HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE AIMING THAT THING!"

Tyler and Chase continued to run, ducking and diving for all they were worth as explosions went off all around them. Cars were turned into scrap and masonry was turned into shrapnel under the relentless barrage.

"You're hitting everything BUT the Rangers!" Wrench screamed at Singe as the Red and Black Rangers took cover behind a large stone pillar. Singe didn't seem to take any notice though, as he fired shot after shot into the pillar, chipping away at it, until he blasted through, finally hitting his intended targets. Chase and Tyler both went flying as he lifted his blaster, grinning with satisfaction at his handiwork as he blew some smoke from the barrel.

"Jeez, did anyone get the licence plate of that truck?" Tyler grumbled.

"What kind of blaster is that anyway?" Chase asked. Singe just looked to the blaster in his hands, caressing it in his hands as he approached them.

"I call it a Last Blaster." He told them, levelling it their way. "Because it's the last blaster you'll ever see!"


	3. Singe's Demonstration

At Kendall's apartment, Kendall, Shelby, Ivan and Erin were waiting for Chase to return with the pizza. Ivan and Erin had begun a game of chess, while Shelby and Kendall continued to sort through Shelby's books, looking to figure out which ones Kendall already owned and so Shelby didn't need at the apartment.

"Ivan's kind of a strange name for someone from England." She commented as he contemplated his move. He looked up a little, considering what she had said. "I mean...it sounds more Russian or something."

"Oh, I'm not from England. I'm from Zandar." He told her.

"Zandar?" She asked. "Like that prince that just arrived a few months back?"

"Yes, just like him." Ivan explained. "The etymology of my name is somewhat mixed. Zandar was created by immigrants from a number of European nations."

"Wow, that's really interesting." She said, playing with her glass of iced tea as she continued to observe him while he looked for his next move on the board. "So, are there a lot of Zandarians? You know...family? Wife? Girlfriend?"

"Your friend isn't very subtle is she?" Kendall asked Shelby. Shelby just rolled her eyes.

"She never has been." She remarked.

"No family to speak of, sadly my kin have long since departed." Ivan told her. "It has been quite some time since I courted a young lady."

"Courted?" Erin asked, grinning a little as he picked up his piece, a knight, and moved it into position.

"Check." He said as she completed his move with a smile. Erin looked to the board, before picking up her piece.

"I've got you right where I want you." She responded, making her move and removing his knight. "Queen takes knight. Checkmate!"

"That...that was...how did...?" Ivan stammered, checking the board from all angles, trying to figure out how he had missed her move, and hoping to find some way out of it. Kendall's Dino Comm bleeped. She remembered Erin was in the room and went into her room to take the call. Shelby made her way to the table.

"Erin, I've kept you long enough. I can't take up your whole weekend." Shelby said as she picked up Erin's jacket, offering it to her. "How about I give you a lift home?"

"No, it's alright, I don't mind staying, pizza sounds pretty good." Erin told her, watching as Ivan continued to try and figure out how he had been caught out. He had been taught by some of the best scholars in Zandar how to play, but he had not seen how Erin had managed to back him into a corner. "Besides, I haven't really had much of a chance to meet your other friends. I'd really like to!"

"I'm afraid that's going to have to wait." Kendall told her as she arrived. "That was...uh...the museum. There's an emergency there, we need to go."

"An emergency?" Erin asked. "What happened? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I'm afraid it's really quite technical, I need the team." Kendall said apologetically, handing Erin some cash. "Here, get a cab. I heard there's something going on in the city. I'd hate for you to get caught up in it."

"Oh...OK." Erin responded as Shelby gave her the jacket and all but started throwing her out the door. "Well, I'll see you Monday Shelbster. I hope your emergency isn't too serious."

"Sorry about this Erin!" Shelby called after her. "See you Monday!"

Kendall opened up her computer, pulling up her tracking software.

"There are alien bio signs in the city." She confirmed. "Tyler and Chase are already out there."

"That must be why Chase is so late with the pizza." Ivan remarked as he finally gave up on figuring out how Erin had beaten him. He nudged the board, scattering the pieces. "Let us do real battle. I can sharpen my game another time."

Back at the site of the battle, Tyler and Chase were struggling to make headway against Singe. That was to say, it was virtually impossible for them to get close. Between the power of his blaster, and the fact he was incredibly trigger-happy meant they spent most of their time fleeing for their lives.

"Doesn't that thing ever run out of ammo?" Chase complained. "This guy's laying down more firepower than the A-Team!"

"Just as well he's as just as accurate." Tyler commented. Unfortunately, almost as soon as he'd said that, he saw an old lady, who must have gotten disorientated in her attempt to flee, running right into one of the explosions, before hitting the ground.

"I'm on it!" Chase told him, running off to check on the old woman. As he arrived, it looked more like she was just shaken up than injured, but Chase didn't want to take any chances. Despite meaning he'd have to leave Tyler, his first priority had to be to make sure she got out of the way. He heard a horn blaring, and a yellow truck came swinging past. A young, blonde guy climbed out the window, looking over the roof of the truck.

"Hey, Black Ranger! Over here!" He called out. "Put her in the back! We'll get her out of here!"

"Here, let me help you ma'am." Chase said, helping the old lady up, and taking her to the truck, opening the back door. He helped her inside, fastening her seatbelt.

"Thank you young man." The old lady commended him.

"Thank these two." Chase told her, looking to the guy, and the young woman in the seat next to him. "She doesn't seem hurt, but take her to the hospital to be on the safe side."

"Sure thing Black Ranger." The young lady responded, gunning the engines. "Let's go to Amber Beach you said, take in a museum tour, it'll be fun!"

"I thought the monsters were gone Hayley!" He protested. "We both watched that ship crash on the news."

"I swear to God Calvin, from now on I pick where we go on dates!" Hayley responded as she pulled away. "Maybe then we won't get into scrapes like this again!"

Chase returned to the battle, just as Tyler flew through the air and hit the ground. He pulled out another Dino Charger. Figuring that Singe was relying on firepower, he hoped that by escalating his own arsenal a little perhaps he'd find that Singe was more flash than substance.

"Dino Armour X Charger!" Chase called out, diving towards him. "Time to teach you a lesson! Spiral Attack!"

Chase unfortunately lost hope as Singe caught him in the air, halting the attack. He could feel the impact, he had caught Singe full in the chest, but it didn't seem to do much more than irritate him. As his grip stopped Chase spinning, he threw him into the air.

"My turn!" Singe called out, firing his blaster into Chase, knocking him out of his armoured mode. He just dusted off his chest like he didn't care at all about the attack and started to walk towards the downed Rangers. "No more heroes or hero headaches."

"Wrong!" Riley called out as he leapt into view. Having been out jogging in the city, he was a lot closer to the action than Kendall and the others. Hearing the explosions he'd started to make his way over. Phillipe wasn't far behind him, having come from the Embassy, which was only a few blocks away. "Lots more heroes!"

"And we pack a punch!" Phillipe called out, launching into his Royal Ranger Punch. Since though just seemed to bat it back, causing it to slam into the Graphite Ranger and knock him down.

"Tyler, Chase, are you guys alright?" Shelby asked as she and the others arrived.

"We'll be a lot better once this guy goes down." Tyler snarled. Ivan gripped his Ptera Sabre.

"Who is this walking candlestick?" He asked them. Singe just gripped the handle of what appeared to be a sword on his belt.

"Let me show you!" He announced, before drawing his sword. An energy wave flew out that hit the whole team, knocking all of them down. Singe admired his handiwork as Wrench finally felt confident enough, seeing him put his blaster away, to emerge from his hiding place. He gripped his forehead. "Oh, my headache is getting worse."

"You're complaining about a HEADACHE?" Wrench yelled at him. "You have them on the ropes! Finish them off!"

Singe just looked to him, keeping his calm demeanour in check, but his anger was flaring up. His kind were used to living deep within the mantle of their home world, which meant higher altitudes, even just ground level, were greatly uncomfortable for them. The reduced atmospheric pressure meant that the energies within him didn't receive the same resistance at ground level and started to expand as time went on. It was painful, but also draining, and potentially lethal if he didn't keep it in check. He barely noticed as the Rangers finally got back up.

"You'll have more than a headache when we're through with you!" Chase yelled as they charged for him.

"FLAME FLARE!" He called out, firing off a massive column of flame that destroyed everything in its path! The heat was so intense that the tarmac melted as it surged forward, and the Rangers were fortunate to throw themselves out of the way. The column of intense flame destroyed everything in its path for close to a mile beyond them. It was a powerful attack that also served to reduce some of the pressure from the energies within Singe, like hitting the release valve on a steam pipe, but at the same time it left him feeling significantly drained. He managed to feign strength and look confident, but he knew it would be a while before his energies would return to a level where he could face the whole team at once.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to finish you another day. My head is killing me!" Singe told them. "Until then, you might want to enjoy your remaining time on Earth. I guarantee it won't be long."

They all watched as he disappeared, leaving Wrench behind. Wrench saw the position he was in, and even with the weakened state of the Rangers decided better of it and ran. None of the team were in any fit state to follow.

"That was intense!" Chase said breathlessly as they all got together.

"Who was that guy?" Shelby asked.

"He called himself Singe." Chase relayed to the team. "Whoever he is, I think we can safely say he's not a normal monster. He's on a whole different tier to the others."

"The ringing in my ears confirms that much." Riley stated. "How do we fight something like that?"

"That...is a VERY good question." Kendall sighed. "Come on; let's get back to the base. We can try and think of something there."

Back on the ship, Heckyl was in the control room when Singe arrived. Hearing the door opening, he turned around in his chair, a goblet in his hand, holding a drink.

"Master Heckyl, I see you were watching." Singe stated, noting the monitors that had been tuned into the battle in the city. Heckyl looked to the monitors and then back at him.

"Well, Wrench does have SOME uses." He commented.

"Then I presume you're impressed." Singe said without any sense of irony in his voice. He had indeed made a statement in his first encounter with the Rangers. It had been clear that the Rangers were anything but prepared for someone of his power.

"Impressed? I don't know if I'd say that's the word I'd use." Heckyl responded as he gave him a somewhat quizzical expression. "Tell me; don't you think you're...missing something?"

"Missing something?" He asked in response.

"Where are the Energems that you promised me?" Heckyl asked him. Singe just smiled in response. Wrench stumbled in the door at that point, having finally caught up after being abandoned to his own devices when Singe had quit the battle.

"Patience is a virtue Master Heckyl. I have a plan that will make taking the Energems as easy as...what is that expression? Oh, that's it, as easy as taking Candy from a baby."

"I'm hearing a lot of talking, but I'm not seeing many results Singe." Heckyl answered. "When you had the Rangers down, why didn't you just deal with them then?"

"Why deal with them at all when I don't have to?" Singe asked him, rummaging in his belongings. Eventually, he pulled out what looked a lot like a flash drive out and showed it to him. "This contains a computer virus that will disrupt the Rangers' weapons systems. Imagine how much easier it will be to defeat them when they're left without any way of defending themselves."

"That's your plan? You should have finished the Rangers when you had the chance." Wrench scoffed in response. "You'll never get it onto their computer system."

"He has a point; I'd be interested to hear how you intend to put that virus onto their systems." Heckyl agreed as he looked on in interest. "I mean, it's not like you can waltz up to their computers and just plug it in without someone noticing."

"Oh, but I don't have to. I have, or rather, you have, the perfect monster for the job. Ninja." He said, snapping his fingers. The door to the command room opened up, and a black streak started to blur around the room, almost too quickly for anyone to see. Eventually, he stopped and knelt down before them. Ninja had been a contract assassin and saboteur on his home world. Renowned not only for his stealth, but also his unsurpassed speed, he commanded top dollar to cause disruption to any government or corporation he was paid to target until Sledge had received a contract on him.

"At your service." Ninja told them. Heckyl took the flash drive from Singe, and gazed at it for a moment, before Ninja stretched out a hand to him.

"No one is faster than me." He boasted. "I'll do it in a flash!"

"Speed isn't everything." Heckyl told him. "If you make it back alive, then we can discuss your price!"

Meanwhile, down in the Dino Lab, the team were gathered around. Allison came down, carrying a first aid kit and a large bag of frozen peas. She handed the peas to Chase, who held them up against his neck.

"Oh...oh yeah, that's the stuff." He commented. "I don't know where Gia learned that trick, but whoever taught her that is a genius."

"OK, am I the only one that's starting to miss Sledge?" Riley asked rhetorically as he started pacing. "I mean, first Heckyl and Snide, now this guy. Why didn't Sledge use these guys before?"

"Maybe he was worried he couldn't control them if he let them out." Shelby suggested. "I don't think Snide is the kind that plays well with others."

"The good news is that we'll all recover." Kendall sighed. "The bad news is, it's clear that this new monster is a lot stronger than anything we've faced up until now."

"He seems to be a graduate of the Imperial Stormtrooper School of Marksmanship." Chase commented. "I was hoping he was relying more on firepower than skill."

"I'm guessing that didn't work out too well for you." Allison answered, looking to him sympathetically.

"Ms Morgan, please say it." Chase begged her. "Please say what you always say..."

"I've been working on something that I think may help." She interrupted him. Chase punched the air, but winced in pain as he strained his neck.

"Yes, that's EXACTLY what we wanted to hear." Chase said excitedly. "So, what is it?"

"It's not quite finished yet, but it shouldn't take much longer." She explained. "If I stay here and work on this, I should hopefully have it ready for testing by tomorrow."

"That's great, that's just...great!" Tyler stated, heading over to another computer. "Do you mind if I use this? I have something I really want to check out!"

"Really? Anything I can help with...?"

"It's alright, I can handle this myself." Tyler interrupted Shelby.

"Tyler, I can help..."

"It's fine, really, I've got this." Tyler reiterated, brushing her off, before concentrating on the screen. Shelby knew that Tyler hadn't been happy with her for what she had said earlier, but she only wanted to help. She went out of the lab as everyone started to break off to do their own thing, hoping that Tyler would cool down and talk to her again eventually.

The Red Ranger sat by the computer and pulled up his E-mail, and started to type. Now that he had this lead, now that it seemed his dad had been on Gosei's island, he knew where to begin, and there was someone he knew who would be able to provide him with all the help he'd need.

"Troy, its Tyler here." He typed in. "I was wondering if you could do me a huge favour."


	4. Ninja Strike

The following day, the Rangers decided to do what they could to prepare for the newest threat to return. They had seen Singe's power first hand, and to say it had been a humbling experience would be an understatement. Singe had power to spare, and while he seemed to be far from a marksman, he made up for that with his complete lack of care for collateral damage by the looks of things.

Kendall had insisted that she was working on something that would help them, the magic words that they always loved to hear in times like this, but they also knew that relying on any miracle weapon was also a sure fire way to prepare for failure. The sad fact was that even with prior knowledge and preparation; battles rarely if ever were straightforward. People got hurt, plans went awry, the enemies had a surprise of their own, and sometimes weapons failed. That meant, that no matter how powerful Kendall's new weapon promised to be, it was always best to prepare as much as possible for the eventuality they would have to do without it. As a result, they had opted to go out deep into the woods to be able to train uninterrupted.

With the restaurant still closed for repairs, Alessandra, Allison and Leanne had decided to tag along. Riley had set up one of Kendall's computers on a collapsing table, and was taking some readings, while Ivan kept watch through some binoculars. Shelby was just sitting nearby, reading up a textbook ahead of her first day on her new path at uni on Monday.

"So...what exactly are we doing out here again?" Leanne asked, sitting on the table next to Riley's computer as he checked up on some readings.

"I'm trying a theory on an idea that might help." Riley told her. "Singe is powerful, that much we know. But we also know he has a fondness for the 'fire enough shots the same direction and hope that one of them hits' approach to warfare, right?"

"Yeah, the estimated 12 million dollar repair bill for the business district can attest to that." Leanne agreed.

"Well, Ivan was telling me that in his day, sometimes the armies he served on employed dragoons." Riley told her. "Horse archers. They would ride around the sides and behind armies, whittling away their numbers with bow fire, before riding off again, keeping their distance. They would harry flanks and artillery crews before they had a chance to respond."

"Horse archers?" Leanne asked him. "You're planning on making the guys horse archers?"

"Well, the theory is sound anyway, but with a couple of adaptations." Riley told her. "Instead of one horse, thanks to the Raptor Cycles, we have about five hundred apiece! We just need to work on the accuracy side of things. Maybe if we can hit the mark and keep moving, we can chip away at Singe if he returns without him being able to hit us in return."

"That's pretty smart." Leanne conceded.

"So, I've already set up a course lined with targets for the guys to hit." Riley told her. "The stats I'm gathering on this computer should give us some data and show their progress."

"So how did you guys find this place anyway?" Allison asked him. "I didn't see any foot paths; it must be quite a while since anyone's been out here."

"I don't know, Tyler suggested it." Riley told them. "He just guided us out here. I guess he must have found this place on his travels."

"Hark, here they come!" Ivan declared as he saw them rounding the path. Tyler was in the lead, with Chase only a short way behind. Koda was at the back of the pack. Out of the whole team, he was still the least confident rider, but he had been convinced of the validity of Riley's plan. They fired off shots at targets that had been placed along the sides of the track as they roared past. Riley grabbed the mic on his headset.

"Alright guys, that's the course, come on in and we'll talk numbers." Riley told them, looking to the computer screen.

It was only a couple of minutes later, and the three Rangers were standing before him.

"Alright, pretty good run you guys." Riley told them. "I've got some great data and..."

"Never mind that, just tell us who won!" Chase interrupted him. Riley shifted a little in his stance.

"Well, you know...this is all about battle and if one of us wins we ALL win, so really it's more about the group effort..."

"Come on Riley, just give us the scores!" Chase willed him, bouncing with excitement. Riley just rolled his eyes and pulled up the scores.

"Well, in first place, we have, Chase, with a grand total of 17 Bulls." Riley announced.

"YES! The Hot Shot does it again...wait...17?" Chase asked him. Riley showed him the read-out. There were six targets, and they had done three laps of the course.

"You dropped one on the second lap." Riley told him. "But hey, it was still an outer bull!"

"Aw man, I must be getting rusty!" Chase complained.

"Koda, nice job, you got thirteen bulls." Riley told him. Koda smiled, completely thrilled with his result. He was the least confident rider, having only started to learn how to ride a bike within the last couple of years, and he was wary of trying to ride and shoot at the same time. Alessandra grabbed him in a tight hug, congratulating him. "Two outer bulls and an outside shot too, good work!"

"What about Tyler?" Shelby asked. Tyler didn't seem to be too interested in his results. Riley looked to the data.

"He did...um...he did good." Riley told her. "Yeah, he did...um..."

"How good?" Tyler asked him, noticing Riley's reluctance to answer. Riley just let out a sigh.

"Eight bulls." Riley told him. Tyler just blinked, before coming over to the computer.

"No, there has to be a mistake." He stated.

"Ms Morgan's programme doesn't make mistakes." Riley assured him, taking a sip from his water bottle and putting it down next to his lap top. "You got all the bulls on your first run, then on the second you dropped four of them..."

"What about the third lap Riley?" Tyler asked. Riley took a deep breath before answering.

"One outer bull." He told him. "You got two glancing shots too, rest missed completely."

Tyler just walked away, shaking his head.

"Come on Tyler, I'm sure you're just having an off-day." Riley assured him. "Wait 'til you see my score when we have our run! You know my marksmanship sucks..."

"Maybe...maybe you're just not concentrating on the task in hand." Shelby suggested. Riley took the Energems from Chase and Koda, before holding out a hand to Tyler.

"I'll just need to take a few readings." Riley said. Tyler handed over his Energem for an analysis. Tyler just glared at Shelby. The Pink Ranger still felt badly about how things were between them, but she wanted to make things right between them. "Tyler...what's going on?"

He pulled out a map and showed it to the others.

"You know how I saw that guy my dad worked with, Rusty?" He asked them. "Well, he told me about the time my dad disappeared. He was the last to see him."

"He told you where he was?" Shelby asked him. Tyler just smiled.

"That's the thing; I think I know what happened! It makes so much sense!" Tyler told them. "He said that dad went missing on an island that they could never find again! They got there through a storm that came out of nowhere, not a cloud in the sky...what does that sound like to you?"

"You think it was...?"

"Gosei's Island!" Tyler said, showing them the maps. "I think they found it by accident! That's why they couldn't find it again to go looking for dad! Rusty said there was a cave-in...we know there's a volcano there, it makes total sense!"

"Where did you get these?" Shelby asked him, looking at the maps.

"I e-mailed Troy; he gave me all the information he has on the island." Tyler continued. "There are tunnels running all the way under the island, some of them created by Gosei, others totally natural. This one's seen the most tectonic activity, so if I start there, there's a section that's collapsed so that'll be hard going, and then this section apparently flooded but I should be able to hold my breath..."

"All that way?" Shelby asked him. "Tyler! That's like...nearly two hundred meters!"

"I know, but I should manage it." Tyler told her. "The island's only a couple of dozen square miles, so if we really search..."

"Tyler, mate, this sounds...um...pretty desperate." Chase stated as he came close to him. "I hate to say it, but even if he was there...what do you think the odds are that he's even still around?"

"We've been there before, you saw it, there's edible plants and animals all over!" Tyler protested.

"That's assuming he was there at all." Chase told him. "Besides, do you really think there'd be anyone on that island that Gosei and the Rangers didn't know about?"

"He only awoke two years ago, my dad disappeared TEN years ago!" Tyler yelled at him. "He could...he could have made a raft and gotten off the island!"

"Tyler, if you really want to go to the island to look, then we'll take you." Shelby told him. "But for your sake, we think it might be best if..."

"If what? If I face the fact that it might be ANOTHER dead end?" Tyler asked Shelby, snatching the map off her. "That when we do get there I might find my dad, but that we'll be finding his body? DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?"

"Peace Tyler, we are all friends here..." Ivan said as soothingly as possible, trying to get between them.

"My dad survived situations that should have killed him a million times! You don't know my dad!" He snapped at his team mates. "And I'm starting to wonder if any of you know me!"

"Tyler!" Shelby called out as Tyler ran away. She wanted to go after him, but Allison stopped her.

"He probably just wants to be alone." She told her. "He'll come around."

"It is a sad situation indeed to be searching for loved ones." Ivan agreed. "I was sent more than once on a search for comrades knowing I would likely be bringing back their bones for burial."

"He'll be back." Riley Shelby reassuringly. "But there's not much point trying to force it. We can't make him accept our help if he doesn't want it."

"So, do we continue with practice?" Ivan asked Riley. Shelby just shook her head.

"I don't know about you, but I'm done with practice for one day." She answered. "Let's pack up and go back to the lab."

"Alright, just help me get this stuff..." Riley started to say, turning back to the computer table and noticing something. "Guys...has anyone seen my water bottle?"

"Is it in your bag?" Allison asked him. He just looked around the table.

"No, I'm sure I left it right here." He told them. Allison rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, I'll get you another drink when we get back." Allison assured him. As they started packing up, Leanne started looking around.

"What is it now?" Allison asked her.

"I don't know...I just get the feeling...someone else has been here." She told them. "There's a strange smell in the air."

"That's probably just Koda." Chase commented. "He had a three bean burger before we came out."

"HEY!" Koda protested angrily, before helping the others pack up.

Meanwhile, close by, Tyler finally stopped running, finding himself completely alone in the woods. He came out here, knowing it was exactly where he needed to be right now. It was where he felt closest to his dad.

He knew his friends only wanted to protect him, to ensure he would be prepared for what he might find if he did look for his dad. Although it was a thought he had pushed from his mind, it was something he'd unfortunately had to face in his nightmares a few times. He already knew that the odds his father was alive were remote at best. Although he had avoided close scrapes in the past, sometimes arriving home a long time after he was meant to, ten years was a stretch for a lot of people.

Any time he got close to the end of a search, there was always a moment of pause for him. In his nightmares, more than once, he had imagined finding what was left of his father. He had seen a skeleton, wearing his father's lucky shirt, with its skull shattered in his most horrendous thoughts. He knew that if he ever did find his dad, it was likely that he would be bringing him home to give him the proper burial that he had been denied for so long.

He suddenly became aware that he wasn't alone. He heard a rustle of leaves behind him and turned in time to see a black streak rushing towards him. He didn't even have time to get up a guard before he was sent spiralling through the air, colliding with a tree. His head snapped back sickeningly as it struck a rock on the ground. Ninja slowed right down, making his way towards Tyler, drawing a ninjato from a scabbard on his back.

"Singe never said this would be so easy." Ninja stated. "I've already completed my mission, imagine how impressed he'll be if I manage to destroy a Ranger into the bargain!"

He levelled the point of the ninjato in Tyler's direction, before drawing it back. Tyler tried to move, but his head was spinning.

"So long Red Ranger!" He stated. Before he could strike though, he was grabbed and thrown back away, flipping through the air, landing on his feet a significant way off.

Tyler saw his saviour running for Ninja, interjecting himself between him and the monster. At first, he saw blue, and he thought that Koda had followed him. His vision was blurring, but in one of his few lucid moments before he finally passed out, he realised that the colour was all wrong. It wasn't blue, it was aquamarine!

James confronted Ninja, taking a quick glance back to satisfy himself that Tyler hadn't been harmed. He could see that he wasn't moving, but he was still breathing. He was sure he'd need attention, but right now, Ninja was still before him. James turned his attention back to Ninja as the creature ran towards him. He was only just able to duck under his first strike, returning with a series of punches that staggered the creature, sending him towards the edge of a cliff.

"What the...Singe didn't say anything about an AQUA Ranger!" Ninja screamed at him. James took advantage of the confusion, running at the creature and kicking him all the way to the edge. Ninja reached for his belt, pulling out some shuriken.

"See how you like THIS!" He yelled, throwing a storm of ninja stars his way. James struggled to dodge them, taking some hits, but he couldn't help thinking of his son lying prone a short way off. He jumped high into the air, before bringing both fists down to the ground, creating a seismic shock that shattered the edge of the cliff. It caved in under his feet, sending both him and Ninja sliding down the cliff face in a landslide that threatened to bury both of them alive. He caught sight of Ninja springing out from the rock face, before streaking away. James managed to grab a ledge a little way down and pull himself into cover, allowing the rest of the debris to tumble past him. Pulling himself up, he cursed his luck to see that the cliff face was now almost completely sheer. Without any climbing supplies, there was no way to get back up. He would have to go down, and then loop around and approach again from the path, something that would take hours. By then, he was sure Tyler would have recovered and gotten himself to safety.

He leapt down the rest of the cliff, before de-morphing. He looked up once more, verifying that he couldn't climb back up this cliff face.

"At least you're safe for now Tyler." He commented, before walking away, heading back towards the city.


	5. Virus Attack

Ninja returned to the ship, a little shaken up from his battle with the Aqua Ranger, but fortunately having avoided any serious harm. The Aqua Ranger seemed to be more concerned with keeping him away from the prone Red Ranger than actually causing him harm. As he returned to the control room, he found Singe sitting on the command chair, swinging around casually as he waited.

"Ninja, that took longer than I expected." Singe remarked. Ninja just shook his head in disbelief.

"I got a little side-tracked." Ninja told him. "I was in the process of trying to secure you a nice little bonus."

"A bonus you say?" Singe asked, becoming interested. "What kind of bonus?"

"One of the Rangers went off by himself, left his Energem behind the dumbass!" Ninja told him. "I had the Red one dead to rights until the Aqua one showed up."

"You almost took out a Ranger?" Singe asked him, ignoring the second part.

"I saw an opportunity and I was planning to take it." Ninja explained as he came closer. "I was sure you'd be willing to arrange a bonus."

"Get in there!" Heckyl yelled as he shoved another monster into the room. This one was yellow and black striped, and was protesting wildly as Heckyl shoved him in. Heckyl was carrying a gun that he seemed to have confiscated from the monster. "Ninja, you're back."

"Master Heckyl, I was...um...just about to call you." Singe answered as he hurriedly got out of Heckyl's command chair.

"I was a little distracted. I found this one on the lower decks hunting my viviks!" Heckyl told him, powering up a blast. "I was just about to..."

"No Master Heckyl, please!" The monster pleaded with him. "It's in my nature! I need to hunt! I've been cooped up so long, that..."

"Those were perfectly good VIVIKS!" Heckyl yelled at him. Singe stepped in the way.

"Master Heckyl, I don't meant to interrupt, but...there is a more pressing matter at hand." Singe told him, gesturing to Ninja. "Ninja has returned."

"Oh." Heckyl said, turning to the monster. "I hope you have better news than Hunter has in his immediate future."

"Well, I found the Rangers in the woods and..."

"Get to the point Ninja, did you upload the virus or not?" Heckyl asked him. Ninja handed him the flash drive.

"They never even knew I was there." He replied with an arrogant tone. "In and out without a single one seeing a thing...even got a nice little drink out of it thanks to the Green Ranger."

"So, you did exactly as I asked you to do." Heckly responded. "Excellent. It is something of a novelty around here. Now, if you'll excuse me I just need to vapourise..."

"He also almost destroyed the Red Ranger!" Singe rushed out. This seemed to catch Heckyl's attention. He turned slowly to Ninja and smiled.

"Really?" He asked. "How 'almost' are we talking?"

"He ran off into the woods alone, and without his Energem." Ninja informed him. "I would have succeeded too if that Aqua Ranger hadn't gotten involved."

"The Aqua Ranger? He showed up AGAIN?" Heckyl snapped as he tried to think of how to process this. "First he lays Fury up, now he's saved the Red Ranger?"

"If I may Master Heckyl...perhaps it is best to focus on the positives of the day." Singe suggested. "Ninja has uploaded the virus to their lap top. It can only be a matter of time before they hook that up to their weapons' systems."

"That...that is true." Heckyl agreed. "We need to be ready to take advantage when they do. In the meantime, I have some business..."

"Perhaps I can think of a more fitting use for this...thing." Singe suggested, gesturing to the creature still cowering in the corner. "Perhaps we should send him out with Ninja. Give him something to turn that gun of his on other than your viviks and besides, if the Rangers destroy him, it just saves you having to do it."

"True." Heckyl agreed, handing Hunter back his gun. "Fine, go ahead, take him out of my sight!"

As Singe, Ninja and Hunter left, Heckyl returned to his command chair. Wrench came over from the corner where he had been listening.

"Master Heckyl, he's now sending two of your monsters?" Wrench asked him. "He's throwing an awful lot of resources at this plan."

"Yes, that had occurred to me too." Heckyl agreed. "I'm taking a calculated gamble. If he is willing to leverage a lot of resources at a plan that ultimately fails, then I'll know he's not got our interests in mind."

Back at the Dino Lab, the team were gathered around, while Kendall worked on the last of the data needed to create her new Dino Charger. While Ivan and Chase were using the time to train, Shelby was still moping over her last encounter with Tyler. Riley was helping Kendall, who was hooking up the lap top he'd taken their training on up to the system. She had told them that the data they collected was the last thing they needed to synchronise up their new weapon. As she did this, Riley couldn't help taking the new Dino Charger out of its housing to look at it. It wasn't like the others, it was predominantly red instead of silver, and had the designation +1 instead of just a number in sequence as he'd expect.

"So this only works with the Red Energem?" Riley asked her. It was a departure from Kendall's usual approach, normally she would look for ways to spread the power around. Most of their power up modes, like Dino Steel, Dino Drive mode and Dino Super Drive mode were upgrades for the whole team as opposed to one single Ranger. Even their Dino Armour X armour, which had originally been set up to only operate with the Black Energem had been recalibrated to allow the Red Ranger to use it too. However, this latest power up, from what little Kendall had said, seemed to be focused on uniting multiple Energem signatures into a single Ranger. It would be risky, putting all their eggs in one basket, but it had the potential to be powerful for sure.

"It relies on the Tyrannosaurus Rex energy." She explained, taking the charger from him and placing it in the machine. "Only Tyler will be able to access T-Rex supercharge mode."

"Why does the Red guy get the cool toys?" Chase asked her. Ivan just shrugged.

"I think my toys are pretty cool." He remarked.

"Only because you're so stubborn about your ways your equipment literally changed to suit you!" Chase complained.

"May I point out that you WERE the first to use all the Ranger equipment?" Kendall asked him as she began the download. "Or that you had sole use of the Dino X Armour for almost a whole year?"

Before Chase could answer though, Tyler came sliding down the slide and landed in a heap on the floor. It didn't take a genius to see that he had been attacked. They team were quickly over to check on him, meaning no one noticed that the laptop switched to a screen, signalling the download of Singe's virus.

"TYLER!" Shelby called out, beginning to check him over. "Are you alright? What happened? Who did this to you?"

"One of Heckyl's goons jumped me in the woods. He was so fast, he came out of nowhere." Tyler told them. "I thought I was done for, but...someone saved me. I think it was the Aqua Ranger!"

"The Aqua Ranger?" Chase asked. The team all turned to stare at Leanne.

"Oh come on, I lied about that one time!" She protested. "I've been here with you the whole time! It couldn't have been me!"

"So this time, it really was the Aqua Ranger?" Chase asked. Keeper appeared in the room, stepping out of a fine mist.

"I always suspected this day would come." Keeper declared. "Tell me, do you know his identity?"

"No, it was like...one minute he was there, and then...he was gone." Tyler told them. "Half the cliff we were on was missing when I came to, it must have been some fight."

"The Ankylosaurus was known for its strength. Its tail was capable of generating an impact that would register in tons." Shelby stated. "It's possible that the Aqua Ranger could have enough strength to generate the force needed to create seismic shocks."

"What I want to know is where he's been all this time?" Chase asked. "We all felt the pull here. We all answered the call."

"Exactly, we all felt the pull, we couldn't have ignored it if we wanted to." Riley reminded him. "Maybe he didn't have a choice in the matter. Maybe he's been...I don't know...trapped or something."

"Wait, there is something..." Tyler said, thinking back to his meeting with Rusty. He looked to the team. "When I met Rusty, he asked to look at my Energem. I got a strange feeling, but...it seemed almost like he'd seen an Energem before."

"You think Rusty, your dad's old running buddy could be the Aqua Ranger?" Shelby asked him.

"Stranger things have happened." Riley answered with a shrug. "Most of us became Rangers by accident! I'd never left the farm before now, Shelby basically stole the Pink Energem..."

"HEY!" She shrieked in protest, giving Riley a harsh look.

"So far our team consists of a caveman, a knight and a prince." Riley reminded them. "Even Ms Morgan took three different attempts at becoming a Ranger before it stuck."

"Alright, we get your point Riley!" Kendall snapped, glaring at him coldly, but looking away as he considered what he had said. It was true that no one really understood how the Energems made their decision who to bond to. If Rusty did recognise the Energem, if he did know what it was, then it was possible that he was the Aqua Ranger, or at least knew who he was.

"Whatever the case, the Aqua Energem would not have bonded to someone evil." Keeper reminded them. "In time we will no doubt have a powerful ally. The Aqua Ranger's strength could be what we need to tip the balance and end our war with Sledge. Answers regarding his or her actions can wait."

The computer bleeped to indicate that the download was complete. Kendall made her way over, taking the new Dino Charger out of the machine.

"Speaking of strength, do you feel up to a little test?" Kendall asked Tyler. "I've just finished the download on your new T-Rex Supercharger."

"A new mode?" Tyler asked.

"A new mode only you can use." Chase said with a little pout. "I was the first Ranger. Where's my cool new mode?" Kendall just slapped him upside the back of the head.

"What do you say Tyler? Are you willing to give it a shot?" Kendall asked him. Tyler took the Dino Charger from her.

"T-Rex Super Charge Mode?" He asked with a smile. "That ninja won't know what hit him!"

"Then let's go." Kendall said, rounding up the others. As they were about to leave, Shelby grabbed Tyler by the arm.

"Tyler, can we talk?" She asked him. Tyler just shook his head.

"There's nothing else to say." He put down flatly. He didn't want to hear anyone saying that his father might not be alive. He didn't want anyone to try and take away whatever tiny hope he had. Shelby wanted to answer, but she couldn't find anything to say to make it up to him. She had dug herself a deep hole, one she wasn't sure she could dig herself out of.

A little while later, the team had found a nice, safe clearing a reasonable distance from the city. Although Kendall had done all the calculations and simulations she could to ensure the new Dino Charger was ready for use, there was always a risk when it came time to do the first real life tests. Unexpected circumstances were a part of science, and when that science was working on weapons' systems, that danger factor increased dramatically. Not only was it best to do such tests where they could get some privacy, they also had to do it somewhere they could avoid collateral damage. Out here, the worst case scenario was they would destroy some rocks or maybe uproot a tree or something.

Koda had morphed and adopted his Dino Steel mode, taking up his Stego Shield. Using a live target for the first test wasn't Kendall's first choice, but she also didn't want to burn the whole forest down if the weapon malfunctioned. Everyone other than Koda was morphed, and standing well back, while Koda was trying to psych himself up to take the first shot of the new weapon. Kendall took one last look around, satisfying herself that as much as possible they had removed anything flammable from the immediate area, and handed the T-Rex Supercharger to Tyler.

"Alright Tyler, here it goes, the moment of truth." Kendall told him. "Just aim straight for the shield. Koda, are you ready?"

Koda nodded to indicate he was ready as he braced himself, waiting for the shot. Kendall took up position between Ivan and Chase.

"You guys are going to love this." She assured them. "Fire when ready Tyler!"

Tyler put the T-Rex Supercharger into his morpher, and closed it up. He felt a little jolt through his arm as he did so. Nothing huge, it was more irritating than painful. He made a mental note to bring it up with Kendall after the test.

"Alright, here goes." Tyler said, before spinning the chamber. The jolt came back, and he could see energy flaring up around his Morpher. This time though, the energy was a lot harsher than before. Before he could do anything to stop it, the energy coursed through him, electrifying him and causing him to scream out and convulse.

"TYLER!" Shelby called out as she saw his suit starting to spark, indicating it was working to protect him from the energy running through him from the weapon.

"This isn't right." Kendall called out, watching in horror as her weapon malfunctioned horribly. While there was always a risk in science, she prided herself on the fact that she did everything possible to ensure that the risk was at a minimum by the time her team got their hands on one of her weapons. So far, the only time one of her weapons had ever malfunctioned in a way that put the team at risk was when Chase first tried to use the Dino Armour X Charger, and on closer inspection she had found that was down to Chase.

Koda rushed forward, using his Stego Shield to swipe the malfunctioning morpher from Tyler's hand, at which the Red Ranger slumped over. Koda approached him. "Tyler? You alright?"

Tyler turned to look at him, but instead of answering, he let out an ear-splitting roar, one that didn't sound human! Koda stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet in his surprise and landed on the ground. Kendall was quickly by Tyler's side, grabbing hold of him.

"Tyler, it's alright, we'll help you!" Kendall assured him, but Tyler didn't seem to have much interest in anything she had to say. Instead, he rushed her, driving her back. Shelby noticed his hunched posture and the fact he held his arms close to his chest, almost like he was unaware of the entire upper half of his arms. He held his hands in claw shapes.

"He's acting just like a T-Rex!" Shelby called out to them. They all knew that they took on characteristics from the dinosaurs their Energems had bonded to originally. Riley could call on incredible speed when he wanted to. Kendall had shown a natural aptitude for ambush attacks since she bonded to the Purple Energem. They knew the spirits of those dinosaurs affected them, but it looked like the spirit of the Tyrannosaurus connected to Tyler's Energem had completely taken over!

Tyler rushed Kendall again, this time bowling her over. He leapt on top of her, pinning her to the ground. He was pressing his helmet against her, almost like he was trying to bite her, completely unaware that the helmet wouldn't allow it.

"Tyler, stop, you're hurting me!" Kendall called out as Riley and Ivan wrestled Tyler off her. He lashed out at all the Rangers in turn, forcing them off him, before letting out another deafening roar and running off at incredible speed. Koda and Chase helped Riley and Ivan off the ground.

"You alright?" Koda asked as he got to them.

"We'll be fine." Riley assured them.

"He thinks he's a real T-Rex." Chase commented, looking in the direction Tyler had run. "We need to find him before he finds anyone and decided they're lunch."

"What happened?" Shelby asked her.

"I...I...don't know." Kendall asked, going to Tyler's fallen morpher, which was now inert, and carefully removed the T-Rex supercharger. She just stared at it, completely distraught that her technology had put one of her best friends, not to mention anyone unfortunate enough to be in his path in so much danger. "You guys find Tyler. I'll meet you back in the lab."

As she left to return to her car to go to the lab, she de-morphed, and got into the vehicle, but she had to stop and remove her glasses, wiping away a few tears. There were always risks in creating the technology she did, and her worst nightmare was the thought that one day she would be directly responsible for one of her friends losing their lives as a result of one of her mistakes. Knowing the danger Tyler was in, and the danger he posed to those around him now, that was pretty close to the worst thing she could possibly imagine.


	6. Aqua To The Rescue

Night drew in, and darkness enveloped Amber Grove, leaving the Rangers with little choice but to return to the lab. Tracking down Tyler in the dark was going to be problematic at best, and Shelby had assured them that any accounts she had read and any evidence most studies found pointed to the likelihood that the Tyrannosaurus Rex wasn't a nocturnal creature by habit. It was a mixed blessing that so far there had been no sightings of him. It meant they were still in the position of having to try and find the Red Ranger, a man running around with the full power of an Energem, who believed himself to be one of the most dangerous carnivorous hunters that had ever existed. On the flipside, it meant that so far, he hadn't attacked anyone else. They were sure that if the Red Ranger had attacked any citizens, trying to "feed", it would likely be all over the news, or at very least Social Media by now.

They were all checking up any leads they could, checking everything from the local media, through fan websites, right down to the lowliest of urban legend sites for any reports whatsoever about the Red Ranger going feral, all in the hopes of finding some trace of where to start searching for him in the morning. Kendall was extremely quiet, having not said a word to any of them, or even seeming to acknowledge them when they returned. She was still going over what happened in her mind, over and over, trying to find out what she had done that had caused the situation they were in.

As much as she prided herself on her work, Kendall was not without her failures, something she was pointedly aware of. Like anyone else, she made mistakes in her work. One time, early in her career, she had made a simple math error in her calculations of a tidal shift which led to the team she was on wasting a whole month having set up a dig nearly fifty miles from the optimal dig site. As a result, they had been beaten to the punch by a rival team in a discovery, and wasted six figures in time and equipment digging in a location that ended up yielding nothing more than a Florida licence plate, three copies of ET the video game on the Atari and an old shopping cart.

That was an error she had never been allowed to forget, one of the first low-points in her career. To this day, one of the team members delighted in sending her a licence plate on her birthday every year to remind her. Of course in that instance, all her mistake had cost was money, and some of her reputation. Mistakes with her weapons could easily cost lives.

She'd always treated the engineering side of her science with a lot of caution, often too much caution in hindsight, in the name of safety. On her first day taking engineering lectures, her professor had given the class a shocking and sobering statistic in order to shake the inevitable cockiness and arrogance that came with the combination of his students being some of the most intelligent people in the country, and also young enough and arrogant enough to believe they were infallible.

"There are 30 people in this classroom. By the time we meet here in 10 years for your reunion, at least two of you will be DIRECTLY responsible for the death of another human being." He had told his class with absolutely no humour or irony in his tone. That warning had shocked the class so much that two people quit the course within a month. His words still lived with Kendall any time she worked on something that she knew had the risk of killing someone if it didn't function safely. She still got cold chills when she realised that Tyler had almost shot Shelby on his very first encounter with his Morpher, not her fault directly, but making her question the safety measures she had put in place to avoid accidental discharge.

Tyler's life had been in danger when the charger had malfunctioned. Knowing the power output that the charger delivered, she was certain that only his suit had stopped him being cooked alive, the radiation being more than enough to act like a giant microwave and turning him into a human brisket! That was before she imagined what could happen if Tyler ran across someone else on his travels. Every minute he was out there he put innocent people in danger, and it was all down to her.

It was almost day break by the time Allison, seeing Kendall still on her feet, while the others had at least taken some periodic naps and snack breaks, decided enough was enough and tried to get Kendall to take a much-needed rest.

"Ms Morgan, you should really rest." Allison told her. "You've been working all day..."

"And all night, and I'll work all day today and all day tomorrow too if that's what it takes." Kendall told Allison bluntly. "Anything that goes wrong with the weapons is on me. Whatever happens is my mess. If I make a mess, I have to clean it up."

"You couldn't have known that this was going to happen. Hell, even Keeper doesn't know everything about what happens with these Energems." Chase reminded her.

"Whatever happens with the weapons is on me!" Kendall reiterated, her combination of frustration and panic getting the better of her. "I need to find out what I did wrong so that I know what I need to fix when we find him."

"Ms Morgan...I think you should probably have a look at this." Riley told her, holding up a hand. Kendall went over to where he was working on the lap top. "Um...I was just trying to Skype my brother...and...I noticed there was a window open and...I found this."

Kendall pulled up the screen, showing her virus protection software alerting her to a virus. It was unlike anything she was familiar with.

"What is this?" Chase asked her. "Do you think it's Wrench?"

"No, I'd recognise his code. It's kind of like a fingerprint." She told him.

"Well, Heckyl doesn't seem like much of a hacker to me." Riley told them. "I needed to teach him how the credit card machines worked four times when he worked here."

"He's more into screwing with people than computers, that's for sure." Kendall agreed. "I don't recognise this...I'm not even sure it's human in origin. It was uploaded today at..."

"Shit, that time signature. It was uploaded while we were out in the woods!" Riley stated, before checking the main computer, the one attached to the transmuter that had created the Dino Charger. "Just as I thought, it transferred to the main computer when we hooked up the lap top to transfer the training data."

"That's how they did it!" Kendall announced, finally managing to decrypt enough of the virus to figure out what its programme was. "It was the virus! It lifted some of the key filters...it caused the T-Rex spirit to take over Tyler's mind!"

"That still doesn't help us find Tyler," Chase said as he thought about it, "but at least now we know what caused this, maybe we can figure out how to reverse it."

"I'm not sure we can, I'd need to see Tyler to know for sure." Kendall told them, before going to the console and picking up some Dino Chargers. "But...I have got some Dino Chargers that I think might help you bring him in without hurting him."

"What these do?" Koda asked her. Kendall just looked to them.

"When you were...unlucky...in your fight with Singe..."

"You don't have to sugar-coat it." Chase told her. "We got our asses handed to us. We know we did."

"I got thinking of ways we could allow you to safely neutralise a threat at least temporarily to allow us to regroup if anyone showed up that was too strong." She told them. "This sends out a particular kind of radiation that activates the sleep centres of the brain, releasing neuro-receptors that should force the victim to sleep. At least...in theory. I've not had a chance to test it, and I don't even know if it'll work on anything other than human biological makeup."

"So...how long would this put him to sleep for?" Chase asked her. Kendall sighed, before picking up some heavy, metal manacles.

"Put it this way. I'd suggest you take these with you." She told the team. Riley furrowed his brows.

"Where did you get...?"

"I...don't think that's the important point right now." Shelby interrupted him, before looking to Kendall. "Ms Morgan, you say Tyler's mind has been altered...is it possible there's even a little bit of the old Tyler in there?"

"I don't know. It's possible." She answered. Shelby just smiled.

"I think I know exactly where he'll go." Shelby declared. The others just looked to her confused.

"Where?" Chase asked her.

"It's...um...it's personal. It's something Tyler shared with me, I don't know if I should tell you unless it doesn't pan out." Shelby told them. "I don't know if Tyler would appreciate me telling you guys."

"Shelby, you can't just expect us to let you go running off on your own." Chase told her. Kendall held a hand up to silence him, before taking Shelby aside.

"How personal is it?" Kendall asked her. Shelby just leant in and whispered something in her ear. Kendall nodded in understanding. "Alright."

"What?" Riley asked. "Ms Morgan!"

"I think Shelby might be onto something. I've learned better than to doubt her on stuff like this." Kendall told them, handing Shelby the new Dino Charger. "Take this with you. If it doesn't pan out, meet up with the others and resume a systematic search."

"Thank you." Shelby responded, before running out of the Command Centre. Kendall worked up a map of the forest, and divided it into areas in a grid pattern.

"Alright, the rest of you start searching here, and make your way out from there." Kendall told them. "I'll start working on a clean version of the T-Rex Supercharger."

"Wait...your untested Supercharger?" Chase asked her. "What about all that doubt from before?"

"Why would Singe screw with my work if I wasn't onto something?" Kendall replied with a smile. With that, the Rangers all ran out, heading for the forest to start searching.

Meanwhile, Hunter had been up since the early morning, and was busy tracking the Red Ranger down. He was an expert hunter, one who had caught the attention of Sledge's clients because of his renown, and his habit of taking his hunts too far. While most hunters were content simply to hunt animals for food, some even for sport or trophies, for Hunter it had become a way of life. He had hunted whole species into extinction for no other reason than to collect rare trophies, and then to ensure they STAYED rare. It was when he started hunting the more sentient species, those that were considered 'civilised', that his crimes became too great to ignore and they were willing to pay Sledge's high price tag to get rid of him.

He went to the edge of a creek, finding fresh, human footprints, and also long, oblong depressions next to the water's edge. It was a sign someone had been by here and knelt down to drink at the creek. Knowing the habits of 'civilised' creatures, he sincerely doubted many humans made a habit of drinking out of creeks, or any water source that wasn't sterilised and purified. He cradled his blaster closely as he found the tracks leading away.

"I'm hot on your trail Red Ranger!" He announced. He was about to follow the tracks, when he was knocked off his feet by a huge slab of human muscle moving incredibly quickly. He rolled back to his feet, just in time to see Koda standing before him. Being the best tracker, Koda was taking the lead in the search.

"You not hurt my friend!" Koda declared as Chase, Riley and Ivan all arrived to assist him.

"It's not Tyler, but that doesn't mean we aren't on the right track." Chase commented. "It looks like Singe had the same idea."

"He also wasn't the only one that thought about coming out mob handed." Hunter laughed. The Rangers were barely fast enough to leap back as a blur came at them from the trees, slicing up the earth right where they had been standing. Seeing Ninja blur into view next to Hunter, the Rangers went for their morphers.

"You're the one Tyler talked about, the fast one." Riley commented. "It would be pretty simple for a guy like you to slip in and out of our camp unseen and upload that virus to our laptop."

"Guilty as charged!" Ninja said with a note of pride in his voice. Chase looked down, noticing his toes were now exposed, and realised that the front had been sliced off his sneakers. Looking to Ninja, he took up his Dino Charger.

"These cost me two hundred bucks!" He told him. "Now I'm pissed!"

With that, the Rangers all morphed and went to battle the newest threats.

Elsewhere in the woods, Shelby made her way, remembering the barely-visible trail as though it were only yesterday Tyler had brought her here. They had only been together a few months, but in that time, they had grown incredibly close, so much so that when Tyler had told them he was continuing his journey to look for his dad, she had packed a bag as soon as she got home.

It had been months since he had brought her here, but during the summer, on the day of his birthday, instead of going to a hotel, or going to a restaurant or a funfair or any of the many ideas Shelby had suggested, he had brought her out here, a few miles outside Amber Beach.

It was, unsurprisingly, a little way from the beaten track. Tyler had explained to her that every year on his birthday, his dad used to bring him out here to this spot. They would go camping there, in what Tyler had described as easily his favourite spot in the whole world. It was where his dad had made his first major discovery; it was where he brought his girlfriend when he asked her to marry him. It was where his wife had told him that he was going to be a father, and, it was where he had brought his son every single year for his birthday, for the first seven years of his life.

He had shown her that his father had buried a time-capsule of sorts, a simple metal locking box, that he added mementos to every time he visited. Pictures, letters, postcards...it was a tradition Tyler had kept up ever since with his own additions. Toys, postcards, and even what he showed her that day, a baseball his father had given him a month before his eighth birthday.

"He was going on an expedition. He said it was important, but that he would be coming right back in time for my birthday party." Tyler had told her with a heavy heart, looking at the baseball. "That was the last time I ever saw him."

Shelby and Tyler had made their own addition to the box on that day, Tyler putting a Dino Bite Cafe hat into the box, before burying it once more. The spot was etched into Shelby's mind, not only for what it meant to Tyler, but for what it meant to her to know that he felt so strongly for her he was willing to share it with her.

Coming into the clearing, she looked around, finding that the ground had been disturbed recently. Not only were there fresh footprints, but the metal box had been unearthed. The pile of stones that covered it had been scattered, and the box itself had been smashed open. She could see the treasures scattered over the ground, though otherwise undamaged. She had been right, Tyler was trying to find somewhere and something familiar, and had found it here. Even if he wasn't himself, there was still something of the man she loved in the beast's mind. She picked up a picture of a young Tyler with his dad, on what had to be the last time they were ever here together.

She paused dead still as she heard a growl behind her. She slowly got up, and started to turn, not making any sudden movements. Tyler was just coming out of the undergrowth, returning to the camp. He had somehow figured out, even with his 'limited' arm length to remove his helmet. Looking into his eyes, she could see him staring straight back, even as she stood perfectly still. Although most believed that the T-Rex's vision was based on movement, it seemed that with his human make up, Tyler could see her just fine, even if she was frozen to the spot.

"Tyler...Tyler, it's me, remember? It's Shelby." She told him, hoping he would recognise her. He didn't immediately rush to attack her, an encouraging sign, but one that she wasn't going to take as proof that this couldn't still end badly until she saw the real Tyler once more. "You know me...you love me."

Tyler didn't answer, and instead started circling her. Shelby only moved to keep him in front of her, where she could see him as he paced, like he was looking for a better position to launch his attack from.

"Tyler, you brought me here, we were here on your last birthday, do you remember?" She asked him. "We spent all night by the campfire right there. You told me all about your tradition of coming here. We...we made love, right here."

Tyler paused for a second. Shelby felt her heart racing as she started to move closer, putting the hypno charger into her morpher just in case.

"We sat right here and watched the sun come up." She reminded him. "Tyler...you know this isn't who you are. Please...come back to me."

Tyler suddenly broke into a sprint straight for Shelby, knocking her over and knocking her morpher out of her hand as her shot sailed harmlessly into the distance. She struggled to keep his face away as he snapped his teeth together. Before he could cause too much harm though, Tyler ended up flying off him. She looked up to see the Aqua Ranger standing in her defence.

"It's true, you are here. The Aqua Ranger!" Shelby gasped. The Aqua Ranger gestured to her to stay back, while keeping his eyes on the enraged Red Ranger.

"Thanks for finding him Shelby. It seems we both knew exactly where to look." He told her. Shelby just furrowed her brows. How did the Aqua Ranger know her name? Was it possible that Tyler was right that Rusty knew a lot more about Energems than he let on? "Stay back, I've got this."

He approached Tyler with his arms outstretched, like he was trying to demonstrate he wasn't there to fight. Shelby could only hope that he wasn't being overly optimistic.

"I'm not going to harm you." The Aqua Ranger said reassuringly. Shelby was more worried about Tyler harming him than the other way around! As the Red Ranger attacked, the Aqua Ranger fought back, but seemed to be more trying to evade or restrain him than cause any harm. He knocked Tyler off-balance, breaking his strength as he held him.

"Think Tyler, you know you're not an animal!" The Aqua Ranger beckoned him. Shelby went for the morpher once more as Tyler lashed out, forcing the Aqua Ranger to drop him and got back to his feet. She threw the morpher to the Aqua Ranger.

"It'll put him to sleep!" Shelby told him. "Use it!"

"I'm not your enemy!" The Aqua Ranger assured Tyler as he put the morpher to his side, and then let it slide from his hand, dropping to the ground. Shelby could hardly believe her eyes.

"What are you doing?" She screamed at him.

"It's me." The Aqua Ranger said, making one last risky gamble. He de-morphed, revealing himself to Shelby and Tyler. "I'm your dad!"

"You're...you're alive?" Shelby asked, unable to believe what she was seeing. "You look exactly like your picture...the Energem!"

James though wasn't paying attention to Shelby, he knew there were a lot of questions that would have to be answered, but questions could wait for now. He picked up the baseball, showing it to Tyler.

"This was your present when you turned eight." He told Tyler. "If it wasn't for the cave-in, I would have been. I should have been there Tyler; I should have been at all of them. I'm sorry."

Tyler let out a huge scream and fell to the ground, de-morphing as he did. By the time he looked up, Shelby could see no hint of the monster he had been; only the man she loved. He approached James cautiously.

"Dad?" He asked. "You're alive?"

With that, Tyler hugged him, squeezing him tight, like he never wanted to let him go again. His mind was full of questions, but his heart soared with joy. He couldn't believe that at long last, his search was over. Shelby just stood and watched from a safe distance as they embraced. Her Dino Comm sounded, alerting her to an incoming signal.

"Shelby, where are you?" Chase asked her.

"I've found Tyler." She told them. "He's back."

"Great, we could use all the help we can get back here." Chase commented. Shelby looked up to where Tyler and his dad were still enjoying being back together and smiled.

"Don't worry; I have a little surprise for you all." She stated. "One that I just know is going to blow your minds!"


	7. James' Surprise

The team was in trouble by the time Tyler, James and Shelby arrived, struggling against two monsters who were clearly very powerful in their own right. Ninja skidded to a halt, only just blurring back into view after one of his elusive attack runs.

"Ha! I'm twice as fast as you!" He taunted Riley and Ivan. Riley was just getting back to his feet.

"Man, this guy has a big hit for himself." He commented.

"Especially for one who relies on shadow attacks instead of honourable combat." Ivan grumbled. "I despise ninjas!"

"I'm not too fond of hunters either!" Chase complained as he and Koda took cover from another dart storm from Hunter's energy bow.

"Hey guys! Need a hand?" Tyler called out, attracting everyone's attention. The Rangers all looked to him in surprise, seeing the man standing between him and Shelby. He looked a few years older than Tyler, and he was strangely familiar, though none of them could place a finger on where they had seen him before.

"Who is that?" Chase asked. Tyler smiled.

"That would be our surprise." Tyler answered, looking to James. "You want to do this?"

"My pleasure!" James answered, pulling out his morpher. "Unleash the Power!"

In a flash of bright light as Shelby, Tyler and James joined the battle; they morphed into their Ranger forms. The team knew the Aqua Ranger had shown up in the city before, but this was the first time they had seen him with their own eyes!

"The Aqua Ranger! They found the Aqua Ranger!" Ivan called out as they came to their aid. James opted to stay with Tyler, taking on Ninja as Shelby helped them with Hunter, dodging through a hail of fire as she attacked him with her Tricera Drill.

"Oh, you are so for it now!" Riley added as he brought out his Raptor Claw.

"Hey, Tyler, since we're all sharing new surprises, give this a try!" Chase said as he threw Tyler the new Super Charger. "Ms Morgan assures us this one is virus free!"

"Awesome!" Tyler called out. "Give me a bit of room dad."

"Anything you say!" James added, slamming his fists into the ground. The shockwave sent earth flying up, and sent Ninja and Hunter to the floor hard. Tyler took advantage of the breather to activate his new Super Charger. This time, he knew it was working as expected as soon as he threw it into the distance. His T-Rex zord came into view, flipping through the air, but shrinking down, ending up the size of a Jack Russel, and leapt into his arms. Rexy converted into another Dino Morpher, awaiting his command.

"Time to see what this thing can do!" Tyler yelled, pulling the trigger. Before the Rangers' eyes, he morphed into a brand new mode. His chest and shoulders were covered by armour that resembled Rexy's head. His suit was replaced by a red and white suit with a jagged pattern running up the legs, and his head was now topped with a spiny crest. The others stood back, impressed by the transformation.

"Now that...that is pretty cool!" Riley commented.

"I still say we should all get one." Chase complained, only earning him loud groans from the others. Tyler opened fire with his new blaster, catching Ninja completely off guard and sending him flying with relative ease. The monster got to its knees and reached into his belt.

"Ninja throwing stars!" He called out, throwing energised shuriken at Tyler, which caused explosions all around. The Red Ranger however, was able to dodge the attacks with ease in his new form.

"Throwing stars? Seriously, how lame is that?" Tyler asked firing back and taking down Ninja. Before he recovered, Tyler threw his morpher at him, which changed back into the miniaturised Rexy, and began to bite and claw at Ninja ferociously.

"Wow, did he just sic his Zord on him?" Shelby asked. "Ms Morgan, this new mode is amazing!"

"We've barely tapped what it can do, trust me on that!" Kendall responded from the Command Centre as she watched on in interest, seeing Tyler dismantling his tricky opponent with her new weapon. She felt vindicated to know that her weapon worked even more impressively than she could ever have imagined now that she was aware of the sabotage. "Tyler, if you're done playing around, try out the combo mode and finish this guy off!"

"Anything you say Ms Morgan." Tyler answered as he pulled out his Dino Morpher and connecting it up to his Super Charge Morpher. "Dino Supercharge, Final STRIKE!"

Ninja could do nothing as the energy blast tore through him, destroying him in a ball of flame. Tyler turned to the others and smiled.

"HA! Ninjas vs. Dinosaurs...there was never a contest!" He commented. "Ninjas are lame!"

"Hey, check that out! Looks like he decided he had somewhere else to be!" Riley commented, pointing to where Hunter was running for his life. "I'll catch him..."

"Looks like that's going to have to wait." Tyler told him as the Magna Beam hit the ground where Ninja had fallen. "Ms Morgan, what do you recommend?"

"I've got just the thing." She told him. "I'm sending the Plesio Zord and the Pachy Zord as we speak."

"I like the way you think." Tyler answered, looking to the miniaturised Rexy. "Come on Rexy; let's deal with this guy once and for all!"

Meanwhile, at the Embassy, Phillipe was in his office, fielding a telephone call. He was very animated and extremely short with the man on the other end.

"What do you mean he's been there four hours?" He demanded. "Yes, I am VERY well aware of legislations and...well I really don't see what that has to do with...the man has a ZANDARIAN passport! Yes, I'm aware of his surname...well are YOU aware that he's been awarded one of Zandar's highest military honours? HE'S NEVER EVEN BEEN THERE IN HIS LIFE...You know what? Put him on the phone!"

He took a sip of some water as one of his aides entered the room. Phillipe held up a hand to indicate he wait until he was finished with his call.

"Lance-Corporal, don't worry, I'm every bit as livid about this as you are!" Phillipe responded as the other man said something. "Have you signed anything? No? Excellent! You did the right thing calling me! Now, just refuse to answer any questions or sign any documents no matter what until my representatives get there. I'm sending over my attorney as we speak! You're very welcome. Zandar does not turn its back on those who have served her so faithfully. Believe me, the honour was all mine."

He slammed down the phone and looked to his aide.

"Send my best lawyer to the airport right away! Tell him that I want Lance-Corporal Meehan in here by the end of the day!" He instructed his aide. "They have no idea the kind of fight they're in for if they keep one of our most decorated veterans detained in that bloody airport one minute longer than he needs to be!"

"Your dedication to your countrymen is admirable Your Highness." His aide answered, taking down notes. "Your Highness...there's a matter I think you should attend to."

"What is it now?" He asked.

"The doctor is here." His aide told him. "We can't get a response from Margaret."

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention." Phillipe responded, making his way out of his office. He headed down the hall, making his way towards Margaret's room, knocking on the door.

"Margaret?" He asked, though he didn't get an answer. He cautiously opened the door, before looking around, knocking again gently. "Margaret?"

She was sitting by her dresser, looking into the mirror. Phillipe started to make his way towards her, finding her sitting, staring into the mirror.

"Margaret, the doctor's here." He told her. "Margaret? Is everything alright?"

She didn't say anything, instead turning towards him. He could see the problem, in her hairbrush; he could see a large clump of hair. Although they knew this was a side-effect of her chemotherapy, it had clearly still upset her when she found her hair coming out as she brushed it. While Margaret wasn't really a particularly vain person, she did take a pride in her appearance. Being in the Royal Household her while life, image was very important. Phillipe just to her side and put his arms around her.

"I knew this was coming." She whispered. "I knew but..."

"It's alright Margaret." He assured her, holding her gently. She rubbed away a couple of tears. "Do you want me to get the doctor to come back another time?"

Margaret just shook her head. One of the things that always drew Phillipe to her was her courage. Even now, at her lowest, she was facing up to the duty he had charged her with. He had told her that to him, her only duty was to get better. He pulled away and knelt before her, smiling.

"Do you want me to get him to give you a few moments?" He asked her. Margaret just shook her head.

"It's not like it'll make me feel any less like shit if I put it off." She answered. Phillipe pulled in, kissing her softly.

"I'll just go and get him." He told her. Margaret caught his arm as he was about to go.

"Would you mind...sitting in with me?" She asked him. Phillipe just nodded in response.

"Of course." He assured her. "If you want me there, then there's nowhere else I'd be."

Back at the ship, Heckyl watched the monitor, his mood noticeably darkening as he watched the Rangers' Megazord destroying Ninja in a devastating explosion that left nothing behind to resurrect. He stroked his jaw as he watched the scene, worryingly silent. Wrench nervously watched on, wondering if he needed to flee the Command Room, but Singe didn't seem particularly phased by the events unfolding. Heckyl eventually pointed to the screen.

"Forgive me, but...I'm failing to see how exactly this is what you promised me." Heckyl commented as he looked to Singe.

"Master Heckyl..."

"No, I seem to remember you saying something about infecting their weapons systems, destroying the Rangers and bringing me the Energems." Heckyl said as he thought about what had happened. "Instead, I see them with a shiny new weapon for the Red Ranger, a brand new Ranger on their team."

He shifted in his chair and glared at Singe.

"Forgive me Wrench, but it just seems to me that is pretty much the exact OPPOSITE of what Singe promised me." Heckyl said, causing Wrench to cower. He really wished Heckyl hadn't brought him into this discussion. He didn't know if there was really any way for him to win regardless of whose side he took, especially if this went south and ended up in a conflict. "Wouldn't you say so Wrench?"

Mercifully, the door opened and Hunter stumbled in, breathless and frantic from his flight from the Rangers, taking the focus off Wrench. The cyborg was grateful when Heckyl instead turned his attention to the new arrival.

"Oh, and here's another thing. In exchange I've lost one monster, and another ran away like a frightened child!" Heckyl commented, before rounding on Hunter. He powered up a blast in his hand. "Do you have anything to say Hunter? I suggest you make it good, because they'll be your last!"

"Master Heckyl, I have an idea, one that requires the use of Hunter." Singe told him.

"Speak quickly and make it good." Heckyl answered. "I'm thinking of extending that invitation to you as well."

"I need Hunter to use as live bait." Singe told him. A smile split across Heckyl's face that sent shivers through Wrench as he got up and approached Hunter, beginning to walk around him, like a cat circling a mouse in preparation of its attack. "Tell me more."

Back in the forest, the Rangers had returned to the campsite, where Tyler had returned in order to ensure his "treasure chest" would be re-buried and would be safe. It had been a day with a few surprising turns for them. It had began with the Red Ranger running wild, in danger of attacking friend or foe alike, and had ended with them gaining a new member of the team.

"So you knew that Tyler would come here?" Chase asked. Shelby just nodded.

"He brought me here when we were travelling." She told them. "He and his dad used to come here a lot."

"So you knew if there was part of Tyler still inside him..."

"Then he would probably come to the place that means the most to him." Shelby interrupted Riley as Tyler gathered his 'treasures' back into the metal box.

"So we know how you found him, and clearly you shook him out of his little episode." Riley said as he looked to the Aqua Ranger. "So I guess the only question that leaves is, who is this guy?"

"Asides from the Aqua Ranger that is." Chase asked. Shelby and Tyler looked to each other, trying to contain their excitement as they prepared to tell the team their biggest surprise. Shelby gestured to Tyler to go ahead; this was his moment, his news to break.

"Guys, I would like to introduce you all to James Navarro." Tyler told them, holding up the picture. "My dad."

The rest of the team couldn't answer for quite some time, shocked to discover the identity of the Aqua Ranger. James smiled as they came out with a barrage of nonsensical exclamations of surprise and some half-questions.

"Very glad to meet you all." James said with a smile.

"But...but how?" Riley asked him. "You disappeared all those years ago!"

"I discovered this thing in a cave I was excavating with Rusty." He said, gesturing to his long time friend. "Then I got caught in a cave-in, but...that's a story in and of itself."

"I'll bet it is an amazing tale!" Ivan declared. "Please, you must tell us!"

"Really?" Shelby asked him. "I seem to remember you weren't exactly too great at relaying your great saga." The others laughed, remembering how Ivan had cut off his epic tale when they first discovered him, being far more interested in discovering the invention of French fries.

"It's really quite a story." James agreed. "And I promise you all, I will be more than happy to tell you all, but...um..."

Shelby decided to step in and save James at that point, seeing that it was getting a little awkward for him, standing in front of all these new people after finally reuniting with his son after ten long years. She stepped between him and the others.

"But...I imagine that you have a lot to catch up on." Shelby interjected, getting between him and the others. She wanted to hear James' tale as much as the others, probably more so, hearing from the legend that she had idolised growing up. However, looking at Tyler and James, she knew that right now, they could wait for answers. Tyler had been waiting for 10 years for this moment; she knew she and her friends could wait another day. "Tyler, bring your dad to the lab tomorrow. I know Ms Morgan and Keeper would just love to meet him."

"What, that's it?" Chase protested. "But...but...he's the Aqua Ranger and..."

"Come on guys, we'll hear the story another time." Shelby said, beginning to shove the others away. She took one last look toward Tyler, who just mouthed the words 'thank you' to her. "Go on, move it or lose it!"

As they left, James smiled and shook his head.

"Shelby, she's...really something." He complimented Tyler.

"Yeah, she really is." He answered.

"I'm glad to know you had good people looking out for you." James said as he took in seeing his son, who he had left as a mere child, now a grown adult. It pained him to think of how much he had missed out on, but he was glad to have Tyler back. He went to Tyler's treasure box, picking up a couple of baseball mitts and the ball. "I...I know its ten years too late, but...do you want that game of catch I promised you?"

"Awesome!" Tyler exclaimed as he took one of the mitts and backed off. James threw the ball to him, beginning the game. "Say dad...I have to ask...you saw me in the park that time right?"

"Yes, yes I did." James said, a note of sadness in his voice. He couldn't lie to his son, but he knew this question was coming.

"Why did you run?" Tyler asked him.

"Tyler, as soon as I found my crystal..."

"Energem." Tyler corrected him. "We call them Energems."

"Energems...I like that." James told him. "Ever since then, I've been pursued by Fury. Back then, you were so little, and I knew that I could never be around you and your mother all the time. It broke my heart, but knowing he'd never leave me alone I realised I couldn't go home again. I couldn't take the risk that he'd hurt you or your mother trying to get to me. Rusty's the only one that knew I was still alive. I couldn't put you or your mom in danger."

"I understand." Tyler sighed, nodding as he heard this explanation. He had prepared himself for the worst, and although he was sad, and a little angry about all the years he had lost with his father, having run into Fury himself, he could understand why his dad would have to make the heartbreaking decision to stay away.

"But...look at you now! You're a Ranger too!" James said excitedly. "I couldn't be prouder seeing the way you took that monster apart! Now I know you can take care of yourself...we can take care of ourselves, there's no danger anymore!"

"Dad, there's still..."

"I know that we still have Fury and the others to deal with, but we can take care of that." James said with a sense of excitement he wasn't sure he would ever be able to feel again. "And between the two of us, we can take care of your mom too!"

"Oh...dad..."

"I mean, I know it's not ideal, but between the two of us we can make sure she's safe!" James stated. "There's no reason for me to hide anymore! We can be a family again!"

"Dad..."

James noticed that Tyler didn't throw the ball back, and could see that something troubled his son.

"Tyler?" He asked.

"Dad...I've been looking for you for ten years. I always wanted to find you. You have no idea how much I've wanted this day to come." Tyler told him, taking a deep breath. "I'm over the moon that you're alive, and I really want you in my life..."

"Tyler, what are you saying?" James asked him. Tyler looked to him and took another deep breath.

"Us being a family, coming back together, I don't think it's going to happen. Dad, it's been ten years. Mom's moved on." Tyler told him sympathetically. "Mom got re-married."


	8. Reunion

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay folks, some unavoidable computer issues needing resolved. Hope the wait was worth it!

James sat on a felled tree, a short distance from Tyler, trying to take in the news he had heard. Tyler was standing, looking a little worried by his dad's sudden silence. He had always hoped that his father would turn up alive, but he also knew that if he did, then there was an uncomfortable truth that he needed to know. Although he knew that James would have to be told eventually, he was worrying if right now, just as they were finally reunited was all too much for him to hear.

"Cheryl got...re-married?" He asked eventually. Tyler couldn't really get a handle on if he was hoping he had mis-heard, or if he was just looking for clarification. As much as Tyler was sure this would have to be a painful subject for him, now the cat was out of the bag, he didn't really see any point in trying to skirt the issue now. He just nodded to confirm what he had said. "Who?"

"It was Mr Barker." Tyler told him. James just looked confused.

"JEFF Barker? Your mom married your little league coach?" James asked him. Tyler just sighed as he heard him say this. "But...she hated him! She always said he was like a drill sergeant with the kids!"

"He really helped out a lot when you disappeared." Tyler informed him. "Dad, you need to know, he was really...really good to us. When we needed help around the house, he was always willing to help. When mom needed help to keep things running, he was there to help out."

James fell silent once more. Tyler could tell that wherever his dad had been, whatever he had been doing for the last ten years, he'd been holding out hope that he could return to his life, that his family would be waiting for him.

"Dad...it's not like mom just replaced you. Mr Baker only started dating her three years ago." Tyler said, trying his best to explain the situation. "There was some stuff to do with...lawyers and banks and...mom left it for a while, she always refused to sign stuff for ages, saying that you were probably just lost, but eventually..."

"She had me declared dead." James surmised. "She moved on."

"Dad, for what it's worth, Mr Barker's been great with me. He always looked out for me. He understood when I said I wanted to keep your name. It was actually him that bought the jeep for me. Well, the first one anyway. Sledge managed to wreck that one."

"Jeff was a good man." James replied, though his sorrow and his disappointment were obvious in his tone. Tyler put a hand on his shoulder.

"Dad, I came looking for you as soon as I was old enough to." Tyler assured him.

"It's alright...I guess it was always a vain hope that she'd wait forever." James replied sadly. "Jeff was a good man."

Tyler couldn't help feeling badly about what he was seeing from his dad. His hopes of regaining his family had to have been what kept him going for a whole decade. Tyler pulled out his phone and started typing.

"What are you doing?" James asked him.

"I'm texting Ms Morgan and telling her I won't be at work tomorrow." Tyler told James.

"What? But aren't we meant to...?"

"We can meet up with them later in the day." Tyler told James with a smile. "I just got my dad back! We're going back to your place, we're getting a pad and a pen, and we're going to write down everything we could ever want to do! Tomorrow, we're going to have the best day ever!"

Meanwhile, at Kendall's apartment, Kendall was on her computer, going through her e-mails when her phone went off. She picked up her phone, looking at it, and sighed.

"Well, I suppose I should have seen THAT coming." Kendall announced. Shelby looked up from the books she was studying, a pen hanging from her lower lip. "Tyler isn't going to be at the museum tomorrow. He's spending the day with his dad."

"Well...that's great. I guess." Shelby said, beginning to drum her pen on the pages. He really did understand Tyler wanting to spend time with his dad; he had been missing for ten long years. She did want to hear about what had happened to him, clearly he had bonded to the Energem ten years ago. He looked exactly the same as he did on the dust jacket of his books that she had read as a young girl before his disappearance. There were a lot of questions they all wanted answers to. The main one Shelby wanted to know was...what was Tyler thinking about now that James had finally returned?

"He's meeting up with us in the lab at five tomorrow afternoon." Kendall told her. "In the meantime, we just have to do the last of the cleaning once the maintenance crews have finished with the restaurant."

"Nice timing for him missing out on that I guess." Shelby muttered. "Though I do still say that Leanne should do the cleaning since she did most of the damage."

"Yeah, she did, saving our butts!" Kendall reminded her. Shelby tried to say something, but found that she really couldn't argue with that logic. Leanne's actions had saved the team from almost certainly losing all but two of the Energems they already had. Shelby just sighed.

"So what are you working on?" She asked. "Is that from Anton?"

"No, this isn't museum business, this is personal." Kendall told her with a smile, while considering her response to the E-mail. "Which means..."

"I know, I know, none of my business." Shelby responded in a grumble, while looking back to her book. "So...when you say personal...?"

"If you must know it's my grandmother sending me pictures from her hiking trip." Kendall replied shortly. "She's done quite a bit of exploring by the looks of things, some of these shots are incredible!"

"You and your grandmother are really close aren't you?" Shelby asked, a little smile crossing her lips. Kendall, even now, wasn't the warmest of people to know, and she liked to imagine what kind of person her grandmother must be to bring out the warmth in Kendall.

"Aren't you meant to be studying?" Kendall asked her. "I wasn't kidding when I said how tough the grading is, Professor Cormier regularly flunks students for poor grammar and punctuation!"

"It's just...it's so complicated!" Shelby complained, throwing her pen down in frustration. "I can't make any sense of this!"

"That's why we study." Kendall told her. Shelby just let out a groan of frustration.

"Ms Morgan, can't you help me? Just a little bit?" Shelby asked her. Kendall took off her glasses and looked straight at Shelby.

"Ms Watkins, would you be asking for preferential treatment from the supervisor of your work placement?" Kendall asked her.

"Please Ms Morgan, I just...I'd really appreciate a little help." Shelby told her. Kendall put her glasses back on and turned towards the computer. Shelby had always insisted that she earned everything and hated the idea of people getting preferential treatment...even when that was exactly what she expected back when she first started at the museum!

However, looking to the E-mail, her mind drifted off a little, and she could remember a little girl coming home from kindergarten in tears, throwing her school books all over the floor in a fit of temper.

"Whatever's the matter Doodlebug?" Her grandmother asked her.

"I HAT E SCHOOL!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "All the kids are mean and...They're all poopy and I hate all of them!"

"Oh, why would you say something mean like that Doodlebug?" Her Grandmother asked her. "That's not the nice little girl I know and love."

The young Kendall just looked to her shoes. G-Ma Betty didn't really understand.

"They all say I'm a baby!" She told her. "They say I'm a baby because of these."

"Whatever is wrong with your shoes?" G-Ma Betty asked her. Kendall ripped up the Velcro straps and threw the shoes away.

"They say only babies don't know how to tie their laces!" Kendall told her. G-Ma Betty finally understood what the problem was. Even at a young age, Kendall was a bright kid, and she loved reading, but she did prioritise that over pretty much everything else. She had never taken the time or paid attention when her mom tried to teach her, and so she had ended up just buying her trainers with Velcro fasteners.

"Now that's no reason to give up on school now is it Doodlebug?" G-Ma Betty asked her. "You love school! You always tell me how much you love all the books and all the..."

"But the kids, they're always mean to me! I can't help it if I don't know how to tie my shoes!" The young Kendall sniffed.

"Now Doodlebug, what's rule number four?" G-Ma Betty asked her. Kendall searched her brain, trying to think of the rules her G-Ma Betty always taught her.

"Always turn off the power before...?"

"If you don't try, you'll never learn!" G-Ma Betty told her, kneeling down by her little Doodlebug, looking her straight in the eye. "It's never a sign of weakness to ask for help Doodlebug, just a sign that you're smart enough to know when someone else knows more than you."

Kendall rubbed her eyes dry with her hands.

"Will...will you teach me how to tie my shoes G-Ma Betty?" Kendall asked her. G-Ma Betty gave her a warm smile.

"Let me get my coat." She told her. "We're going to the shoe store right now, we're going to get you any pair you want, and we aren't leaving until you tie them all by yourself. How does that sound?"

"You're the Greatest G-Ma Betty!" Kendall responded, throwing her arms around her. Kendall couldn't help smiling at the memory. She shut down the e-mail and went to Shelby's side.

"Let me have a look." Kendall told her. Shelby seemed a little surprised, but slipped the book over to Kendall. The Purple Ranger could see what she was studying. It was pretty basic stuff all things considered, but she doubted Shelby's full attention was on the task in hand. She was sure Shelby would figure it out herself on any other day. She looked to her notes.

"Well, for starters, carbon dating is a misnomer for other forms of scientific dating. Carbon dating only works on living things." Kendall explained. Shelby looked to her blankly. "Carbon has an atomic weight of 12, but there's a mildly radioactive isotope with an atomic weight of 13. Living creatures breathe it in, and since we know the half-life, or how long it takes for half the number of isotopes to degrade into their stable Carbon 12 form, we can essentially count backwards."

"So, why do people talk about carbon dating rocks and metals and...?"

"Like I said, it's become a bit of a blanket-term for all methods of dating." Kendall told her. "Now, let me show you this equation. There's a very simple trick I use to remember it."

The next morning, Tyler and James had set off early for their day ahead. Neither one of them had really slept, they were still far too amped up from the excitement of meeting up again that they had spent pretty much the whole night coming up with ideas for how to spend their amazing day together. Although it was technically an abuse of their Energems, they had both morphed in order to ride their Raptor Cycles up to the highest point in Amber Beach to watch the sun come up together.

The city was beautiful at this time of the morning, especially when it wasn't still smoking from the latest monster attack. Gentle orange rays bathed the city in a glow that would almost make anyone forget the horrible thing that happened there every single day.

James couldn't help smiling looking out over the city. His life had seen a lot of scenes like this, he had spent much of his adult life camping. It had been a long time since he'd gone with his son though. Tyler was a little way off, still staring at the list.

"Tyler, would you put that thing down? You're going to miss the best part of the day!" James told him. Tyler was still trying to come up with ideas though.

"How about Mount Whitney?" He suggested. "It's supposed to be a great climb!"

"You're putting more on the list?" James chuckled. "You don't want to save anything for tomorrow?"

Tyler didn't respond though. James could understand completely Tyler's enthusiasm to pack as much into their day as possible, to make up for lost time, but ten years was a lot to pack into a single day.

"You know I'm STILL going to be here tomorrow right?" James asked him. Tyler just shifted a little as he heard him saying this. "Tyler, I'm not going anywhere."

When Tyler still didn't respond, he tapped the list with his finger.

"Put it on there, right next to sky diving." He told him. "But if we do, we're saving scuba diving until another time, right?"

"Sure thing." Tyler said with a smile, scribbling on his list.

"Besides, we do have to meet your friends later, remember?" James asked him. "Not to mention, I haven't really been properly introduced to your girlfriend."

"Dad, you met Shelby..."

"I met her for about five minutes in passing." James reminded him, putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "I know you want to catch up with me, but...I want to catch up with you too. There are a lot of new people in your life now, people who are important to you. I'd really like to get to know them."

"Alright, then we can skip Scuba and...dinner at the best Italian in town, that can wait too." Tyler replied. "If you order in pizza, I promise you the guys will love you for life!"

"That sounds like a plan." James answered, getting up and heading to his Raptor Cycle. "Come on then Tyler, Mount Whitney awaits!"

Meanwhile, over on the ship, Singe came into the Command Room, where Heckyl, Wrench and a recovering Fury were waiting. He was carrying with him what looked like a long, green rod, but as he got closer, letting them have a look at it, they realised it was a metal rod, surrounded by a number of strange looking green rings.

"These are Zotak Rings." He explained. "Zotak Rings neutralise the power of anything they surround, including Energems!"

"We don't want to neutralise the Energems!" Fury roared as he started swinging his sword around in a fit of temper. While he was still recovering, he wasn't able to help out in the field, and so his position in the ship was slipping. He had already found that Singe had taken his cell as his own, since it was the only one that could adapt its atmospheric pressure controls to match his native environment. "We want to STEAL THEM!"

Heckyl took Fury's blade between his thumb and his forefinger and guided it away from Singe's face.

"You seriously need some anger management Fury." Heckyl said in a casual drawl. "We wouldn't want you to pop a stitch or anything...leave you on the shelf any longer."

Fury just muttered something under his breath as he put his sword away.

"Though he does have a point, we are trying to get Energems, not POWERESS gems. If I wanted useless jewellery I'd raid Poisandra's collection." Heckyl told him.

"But Master Heckyl, think how much easier it will be to take those Energems if the Rangers don't have their powers." Singe answered dryly, showing him a controller. "Once we've defeated the POWERLESS Rangers, I can simply de-activate the Zotak rings."

"Your complicated schemes mean nothing without results." Heckyl told him. "Bring me the Energems, or I'll neutralise YOU!"

"Of course." Singe replied with a curt nod. "Now, I just need to collect Hunter and I'll be on my way."

"I don't trust him!" Fury told Heckyl. "We should destroy him..."

"Do you really think I trust him either?" Heckyl chuckled. "Keep an eye on him Fury. If you find anything, I'll give you the honour of being the one to destroy him personally."

"It'd be my pleasure Master Heckyl!" Fury answered.


	9. Dr Navarro's Tale

The team were in the Dino Lab, resting up after spending a long day cleaning up the restaurant, following the repairs. While the crew had done the repairs themselves, Kendall had insisted that the team do the cleaning since it was basically going to be on them if the health department stopped by for an inspection.

Ivan and Riley were fencing, as usual, while Leanne watched them from a distance. Allison came over, taking a seat next to her.

"I thought you said you were over all that knights and swordplay stuff living in Briarwood." Allison commented. Leanne just shrugged.

"I don't seem to mind so much when it's Riley that does it." She answered with a little smile, taking a sip of a red drink. Allison just pointed to it.

"Um...that isn't...um..."

"It's a cherry smoothie!" Leanne teased her, shoving her gently. "I don't deal with my 'alternative' dietary needs in public if I can help it. I learned long ago it can make people a little uncomfortable."

"I can't possibly imagine why." Allison answered, stirring some coffee as she watched the team. Alessandra was over by Koda, who was working on one of his paintings. He didn't usually get much time to do his cave-art any longer, usually filling his days between training for his matches, his Ranger duties and his work in the museum, but Alessandra's birthday was coming up, and she had asked that he make something for her. Shelby and Kendall were off working on something on the computers, while Chase was talking to Phillipe, who had stopped by to check up on the work his contractors had done on the restaurant.

"So, you like watching fencing when Riley's doing it?" Allison asked. Leanne just nodded.

"Oh, it's completely different then." She said enthusiastically. "He's got this way of..."

She looked to Allison, who seemed completely unconvinced by her answer.

"Alright, I just like watching Riley." She admitted. "Does that come across as desperate?"

"Only if you don't act on it." Allison told her. "Come on Leanne, it's been kind of obvious for a while. What's stopping you?"

"Oh, absolutely nothing, guys are normally lining up around the block to date vampires." She stated sarcastically. "I know that there's all that fiction out here that people go all gaga over the idea of dating vampires, but in reality, people get a little funny about the thought of it when...you know...they worry you're going to eat them if they get a paper cut."

"I thought you said you had that under control." Allison commented. Leanne just shook her head.

"As 'under control' as any of us do." She answered. "Besides, it's like a phobia. You try telling someone with arachnophobia that the tiny spider in their bathtub couldn't possibly hurt them. I'd understand more if they lived in Briarwood where we have spiders the size of a Buick, but that kind of fear doesn't really need much in the way of logic."

"Are you sure it's his fear you're worried about or your own?" Allison asked her.

"Are you really lecturing ME about a fear of difficult talks?" Leanne asked her. "I seem to remember a certain someone doing mental gymnastics over her relationship when a certain someone else was in New Zealand for a couple of months."

Allison fell quiet at that. Leanne suddenly felt badly, in trying to deflect from her situation, he had attacked Allison's doubts over the future with Chase.

"I'm sorry, that was...that was really below the belt." Leanne said as she tried to back-pedal for all she was worth. "I shouldn't have said anything!"

Before she could answer though, there was a loud whoop of excitement, and Tyler and James slid down the slide into the Dino Lab. Although they had both been up pretty much the whole night, and most of the day, they were still riding a high from all of their day's activities.

"Hey guys!" Tyler greeted them cheerfully, way more cheerfully than they had ever seen him. While Tyler always was a pretty upbeat guy, there always was an element of sadness around him, one that had finally lifted.

"Welcome back Tyler! Dr Navarro!" Koda greeted them, looking up from his painting and waving. "Want see my cave painting?"

James went over to Koda's painting, and saw the work on it. He had seen many people re-create cave art over the years, many had even learned to use natural materials and paint with their fingers like Koda was doing, but Koda's work was something else entirely. He had seen some people's work that would easily pass a cursory inspection enough to actually be sold as genuine cave art, but this was unreal.

"This is beautiful, you...you mix all the dyes from plant life yourself?" He asked. Koda nodded.

"No get mammoth poop, but goat work well too." He answered. James laughed, not appreciating the fact that Koda was, in fact, completely serious.

"Well, I imagine mammoth faeces would be hard to come by today...you know...other than in fossilised chunks that would be pretty difficult to work with." He answered sarcastically, inspecting the painting. "This is incredible! Your work is amazing! You must have studied at the university to get to this level!"

"At the Uni...wha?" Koda asked, looking more than a little confused. Alessandra struggled not to laugh. Koda was as far from a university graduate as anyone could get. He hadn't even attended school! Everything he knew was what he had learned from Kendall and his friends. Tyler put his arm around his dad and started to lead him away. They had spent all their time since James had revealed himself together; James hadn't learned anything about the team.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you about Koda..."

"You...that sword!" James announced, approaching Ivan. Although his chief area of study was palaeontology, he did have an interest in human history as well, and often studied archaeology. Ivan bowed respectfully and offered his sword to James to inspect. His mouth was open in awe as he inspected it. "If I'm not mistaken, this is Zandarian in design! A Zandarian Longsword...well balanced, traditional smithing...these hand bindings...deer hide?"

"Only the finest." Ivan said proudly. James inspected the inscription on the blade.

"These etchings are amazing." He commented. "And this crest, Prince George the Warrior Poet if I'm not mistaken."

He handed turned it, offering the handle back to Ivan.

"This is a truly magnificent replica." He stated. Ivan's expression slipped, and he suddenly became very indignant.

"REPLICA?" He snapped, snatching the sword back. "I'll have you know Prince George himself presented me with this when I defeated the Laughing Knight in single battle at the Bridge of Ren!"

"Prince George?" James laughed. "I think you're looking a little young for an 820 year old!"

"Kind of like how you look a little young for a 42 year old hmmmm?" Ivan asked. James was taken aback by this, he didn't mean to offend Ivan, but the idea that he was trying to pass himself off as having been personally presented with a sword by a man who was known to die in the Great Plague of Zandar in 1221 was a little out there. Kendall intervened between them, putting herself between Ivan and James before things became any more heated.

"Ivan, be so kind as to put the very sharp, very real sword away would you?" Kendall asked him. Ivan picked up his scabbard and snapped the sword back into it. "I'm sure Tyler just hasn't gotten around to explaining to James about us."

"Explain what? That this guy believes he's some kind of knight?" James asked her, turning around and seeing Phillipe. "Next you'll be telling me that this guy is the Prince of Zandar!"

"Hereditary Prince Phillipe III of Zandar, at your service." Phillipe responded, offering a handshake. "May I say it's an honour to finally meet you? I would have tried to get you to appraise some of our finds on Zandar, but...you know...I doubt someone as renowned as you would have accepted the invitation of a 10 year old, even if it was the future Prince."

"It's true, he IS the Hereditary Prince, and currently the UN Ambassador to Zandar." Kendall assured him. "And Koda here, is a cave man. He discovered the Blue Energem 100,000 years ago! Ivan really was a Knight of Zandar, and Prince George's personal standard bearer."

James wanted to deny any of this, but he had seen so many bizarre things in the time since he had discovered his Energem that he couldn't outright think of anything as impossible.

"When they bonded to their Energems, they stopped aging. We all did." Shelby explained, opening one of his books, showing him the picture from inside the dust jacket. "And so did you."

James pulled out his Aqua Energem and just stared at it. He didn't even know what it was called until Tyler had told him, but the main things he knew about it were that it held incredible power, and that it was somehow linked to him on a level he couldn't understand.

"I...I knew this thing made me age slowly but...not at all?" He asked, his hand straying to his own face. It hadn't escaped his notice that he looked the same now as he had when he found the Energem, but since he was now strong enough to cause seismic shocks with his bare hands, he presumed that the energy somehow made him age more slowly.

"As long as you're bonded to the Energem, you'll never age." Kendall reaffirmed. James found a rock to take a seat on, the information he was hearing becoming too much for him. The team gathered around, seeing that this was obviously a lot for him to take in all at once.

"Dr Navarro?" Shelby asked. His thoughts, however, were elsewhere.

"This Energem stole 10 years of my life." James told them. "But then again, it saved my life."

"How did it happen?" Chase asked, finally approaching the question they'd all been wanting to know the answer to ever since they found him. James took a deep breath.

"I figured out there were some islands off the coast of Harwood that had been largely untapped, that nobody went to, but given the conditions there, it seemed like they were prime sites for a number of species." James began. "But, with my reputation being somewhat less than it used to be by that time, the university refused to fund me. So, I put together a small team, just me, Rusty and a couple of enthusiastic undergrads and whatever money we could scrape together ourselves. We paid for a boat and a captain, the only one we could afford...unfortunately...that was mistake number one. The guy was pretty much permanently ripped out of his skull on Jack Daniels. By the third day we were miles off-course and got caught up in a storm that beached us on an island I couldn't find on any map."

The Rangers all looked to each other, knowing that this was Gosei's Island. In truth it didn't show up on any navigation system, and was protected by an energy field which they must have mistaken for the storm. Having been through it themselves in search of the Ankylo Zord, they knew first-hand how it felt.

"We had no idea where we were and the boat needed a lot of repairs, but the place was incredible! I hadn't seen anything like it! It was built around a volcano, but there were carvings of animals on it that must have been done by tribes that died out long before we got there." He continued. "Everywhere we looked we were finding species, LIVING species that were long-thought extinct! The place was a virtual treasure-trove, so Rusty and I decided that while we were there, we should make the best of it and explore."

"You went exploring the caves." Chase surmised. He got some loud groans and a few of the team hit him to silence him. They were wanting to hear James' story, not the parts they already knew.

"We were deep underground in some caves, I swear I've never seen anything like it, we literally couldn't move for stepping on or tripping over something that would justify a full government grant for studying the island for decades. I even found a whole Ankylosaurus buried right there, miles under the Earth! It must have gotten caught in an eruption."

"An...um...Ankylosaurus you say?" Riley said. "So...what went wrong?"

"I don't know, but as I was trying to dig to get closer, I could almost swear I saw it moving." James told them. "Then the cave started to come down. We tried to get out, but Rusty slipped and fell. I went back for him. Rusty got out, but...I got trapped by falling rocks. Rusty kept calling out for me, trying to come back, but I knew I was done for, so...I told him to go."

"It was a difficult decision to make." Ivan told him. "I have known knights that would sooner save their own skin than sacrifice themselves when the time came."

"When the dust settled, I was trapped, unable to move. I wasn't killed, but I knew I'd never be able to get myself out. That was when I saw something glowing a little way off, in the fossilised Ankylosaurus." He continued his tale, recalling that day. "I didn't know why, I was nowhere near close enough to reach, but I reached out my hand, and this just flew into my hand right from the fossil. All of a sudden, I felt strong, stronger than I ever had in my life. I managed to free myself from the rock, but with my way blocked, I had to find another way out. By the time I finally found another way out, about three weeks had passed. Rusty and the others were gone."

The whole team was silent as they heard this. It was an incredible tale, but not one that was beyond belief. The Energems had sustained them through a lot. They regularly survived things that should realistically have killed them. Between that and James' natural survival instincts, it wasn't impossible to believe he could survive crawling through caves for almost a month.

"The island was great, there were a ton of edible plants and animals, I made a camp and stayed there waiting for a passing ship, but after a few months, it became pretty clear no one was coming back. So I figured if I was going to get off that island, I had to get off it myself."

"How?" Kendall asked him.

"I made a raft, but...that didn't last long. A few miles out from the shore I hit another storm. The raft was smashed into splinters in seconds." James explained. "I started swimming, not even knowing if I was going in anything like a direction I'd find someone to rescue me, but I figured I'd have more chance if I tried than if I just gave up. Before I knew it, I saw land...inhabited land. I couldn't believe it when I crawled up onto a pier and was told I'd managed to get to Harwood Harbour."

"HARWOOD?" They all chorused together.

"You swam all the way to Harwood?" Chase asked him.

"I know, I couldn't believe it myself, these Energems...they really do have a lot of power." James said, holding up his Energem. "My first thought was to get back home, but it wasn't long before a creature started following me, he ambushed me not long after I got into Harwood."

"Fury." Tyler surmised, remembering reading his dad's journals. James just nodded sadly.

"I tried everything to throw him off the scent. Abandoning my belongings, taking long routes, anything I could think of to get him off my trail, but every time, he seemed to end up finding me eventually, like he could smell my Energem." James told them. "I considered just giving it to him but the thought of this much power in the hands of something like him...I couldn't do it. That's when I realised I could never go home again. I couldn't take the chance of something happening to Tyler or his mother. So, I found Rusty, and after explaining things, I spent the rest of my time in hiding."

"You found Rusty?" Shelby asked him. "I'll bet THAT was a surprise for him!"

"Believe me, it was! He fainted the second he saw my face." James chuckled, remembering it. "But he did what he could to help me, sending me money when he could. We knew I couldn't risk anyone tailing me, so I had to cut myself off completely from my old life. I never stayed anywhere for more than a couple of days, I never was able to get a job or anything...Rusty's pretty much kept me going all these years."

"I knew it; I knew he knew more than he was telling us!" Shelby remarked. "He could have told us this ages ago and..."

"Please, don't think badly of him because of me. He only did what I asked him to do." James told them. He looked sadly to Tyler. "You have to believe me; if there was any other way...can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course, you didn't have a choice!" Tyler assured him, hugging James tightly. "But you don't have to run anymore."

Just then, an alarm sounded on the computer. Kendall checked it out.

"Alien bio signs in the city." She said, typing in a few keys. "I'm sending the co-ordinates to your Morphers."

"Alright, let's go!" Tyler declared. Kendall stopped Phillipe and James.

"Dr Navarro, Phillipe, I need you to stay a little while longer." She told them. "I'm working on a weapon that needs the energy of all the Energems. I've already uploaded the signatures from the others, but I need yours."

"But the team..."

"Trust me, we've been doing this for a while mate." Chase told him. "We'll call if we need you."

Reluctantly, Phillipe and James handed over their Energems as the rest of the team ran out find out what Heckyl...or Snide's...latest plan was.


	10. The Zotak Rings

Hunter was wandering around in the open, swinging his weapon in a lazy manner and causing frankly more of a nuisance of himself than any real threat. He had been wandering around in the middle of the industrial district, making himself seen and causing workers to run, but not really attacking at all. He had fired a few pot shots at first, but this quickly got boring and so he was just playing a glorified game of "boo" with people in the area.

"Aw, man, this is so boring!" He complained, kicking a can down the street as he swung his crossbow blaster around lazily. He looked over to a dark corner where Singe was waiting. "How much longer do I have to do this?"

"The Rangers will be coming, just a little longer." Singe told him. "And how many times, STOP LOOKING OVER HERE! Don't you get how an ambush is meant to work?"

"I remember when hunts were supposed to be fun." Hunter grumbled. "I hate being the bait."

"This guy again?" Chase asked as he, Tyler, Shelby, Riley, Koda and Ivan arrived on the scene.

"What are you even doing here?" Riley asked him. "Tell me, are you actually going to fight this time, or are you going to run off again?"

Hunter brought his crossbow blaster to bear, and opened fire with a series of energy bolts. The Rangers all dived to avoid the onslaught.

"I guess that answers that question, let's make sure he doesn't run this time." Tyler stated. "Dino Chargers, READY!"

Back in the Dino Lab, James was sitting, drumming his fingers nervously as he watched the battle on the monitors. Kendall was tracking the progress of the upload of the energy signatures from their Energems to Tyler's T-Rex Supercharge mode. She rarely believed in placing all her eggs in one basket, and preferred power-ups that were available to the whole team. However, given the encouraging results from the T-Rex Supercharge Mode's first real-life test, she was willing to chance it to see how far this new power could be pushed.

Keeper had explained to her that the Red Energem was unique among the others. While not strictly speaking more powerful than the others, more than any other, it drove the potential of all the Energems. It was no coincidence that it had chosen the Tyrannosaurus Rex to bond to, the dinosaur that was always considered the "king" of its kind, even taking its Latin name from this assertion. The Red Energem could channel power from the others and allow it to access previously unprecedented power.

It was something of a risky strategy to put so much power in just one Ranger, given the potential that one Ranger could be taken out before being able to use that power. She had heard her team mates discussing video games once, and heard one of them refer to a character type as a "glass cannon", capable of immense destructive power, but to balance it out, being comparatively vulnerable. She hoped that her new power up didn't place Tyler unduly in that role, but with powerful enemies like Singe showing up, it was a gamble she worried they may have to take.

"James, would you mind not doing that?" Kendall asked him, seeing his nervous fidgeting. "The team know what they're doing."

"How much longer is this going to take?" James asked her. She just sighed and shook her head.

"It'll be ready soon." She assured him for seemingly the hundredth time. She checked the progress, seeing that the power-up was 75% complete. It wouldn't be long, but that didn't mean it wasn't agonising for her either, waiting what felt like hours only to see the task bar advance by 1%.

She looked to another corner, where Phillipe was sitting, and came over, sitting with him.

"I'm sorry to drag you away for so long." She stated, knowing his thoughts were with Margaret. She had asked him along to upload his Energem energy while he was inspecting the work his contractors had done repairing the restaurant. Unfortunately, he was being kept from her a lot longer than he really wanted to be. "How is she?"

"She's doing well physically." Phillipe told her. "Her surgery incisions are healing up, so hopefully she'll be able to get fitted for her prosthetic soon. Learning to use it might be a good distraction for her."

"Distraction?" Kendall asked him. Phillipe just looked away.

"She was upset recently about some of the side-effects of her chemotherapy." He told Kendall. "She's started losing some of her hair."

"That's always a tough one to deal with." Kendall stated. "I know I freaked out quite a bit."

"Margaret mentioned you had gone through this." Phillipe answered. He shifted a little closer. "Is there anything I can do? I want to help her, but I just...I feel so useless."

"Believe me; you're already doing the best thing you can." She told him. "Just being there is doing more than you think."

"I just wish I could do more." Phillipe said sadly. Kendall just nodded in understanding.

"I'll visit later, just to see how she is." Kendall assured him. She checked her computer. "Tyler's activated T-Rex Supercharge Mode."

"Really?" Phillipe asked, getting up as they headed to another computer, the one where James was watching the battle unfolding on the monitor.

"This other monster just showed up." James told them. "There was no sign of his energy signature, then suddenly...they just spiked."

"Singe!" Phillipe and Kendall said together, recognising him from his first battle with the Rangers.

"He must have figured out some kind of cloaking technology." Kendall concluded, looking a little worried by this development. They could see Tyler in his T-Rex Supercharge Mode, taking on Singe while the others kept Hunter busy. "This isn't good, this really isn't good..."

Almost on cue, there was an alert from the machinery, signalling that the power transfer had taken place. Kendall went to the machinery, taking the Graphite and Aqua Energems out of the device and holding them out. They immediately flew back to their respective owners.

"Tyler's tough, he should be able to hold Singe for a while." Kendall told the others. "Let's show him he's not the only one with surprises."

With that, they ran out of the Dino Lab, morphing as they went.

Back at the site of the battle, Tyler was pulling out everything he had in his arsenal against Singe. Having been handed a decisive defeat the first, and so far only time they'd ever fought him, he was keen to do everything he could to ensure it didn't happen again. He knew that Singe couldn't be taken lightly; he was just too dangerous to allow to run amok. He had summoned his T-Rex Supercharge Mode, hoping to tip the scales and ensure that they would never have to deal with him again.

Singe was staggered by a hard kick, clutching at his chest. He knew that the Rangers never rested on their laurels, and had a well-earned reputation for learning from their past experiences. While it hadn't been long since he was moments away from defeating them single handed, Tyler's vast increase in power had him troubled. That last shot hurt a lot more than he was willing to let the Red Ranger see, and he was concerned that he might have allowed them too much time to fortify their ranks against him.

"Nice try Singe, but your trap failed! This is one time your schemes are going to cost you BIG!" Tyler told him as Rexy ran at him, jumping up into his arms. "T-Rex Supercharge Blaster, Ready!"

"You think that was a trap? You think someone of my intellect would resort to a childish game of peek-a-boo?" He asked, activating the device on his wrist. "That wasn't a trap...THIS IS!"

Green energy flew right for the Red Ranger, hitting him as he combined his T-Rex Supercharge Blaster, but instead of simply hitting him, Tyler found himself being surrounded. His arms were bound to his sides, and by the time the flash dissipated, he found himself wrapped inside a gigantic green ring of material he couldn't identify. What was worse was that from the moment it hit, he felt himself starting to weaken. The band trapping him didn't just hold him in place; he could feel his energy starting to drain, like it was being siphoned off by an unseen source. Singe started to chuckle as he approached Tyler.

"Nice toy Red Ranger, shame you tipped your hand so early and showed us your new super weapon." Singe taunted him. "Now that I know that's the best you have to offer, soon...you won't have anything at all!"

Tyler let out a massive yell, struggling with all the strength he had. He couldn't just slip out of the Zotak Ring, and he couldn't find any kind of lock to manipulate so that left him only one option. Summoning up all the energy he had as quickly as he could, he hoped to break out. Singe had to dive for cover as the Zotak Ring shattered, but Tyler fell quickly to his knees as the power of his T-Rex Supercharge Mode left him.

"I thought you said those things would work!" Hunter yelled as he ran towards him, fleeing the other Rangers who had him well and truly on the ropes. Singe got up quickly.

"I just need to refine the plan a little. Next time I'll aim for their Energems." Singe replied as he pressed some controls on his controller. "Come on! This isn't over!"

"Tyler, are you alright?" Chase asked as he got to the Red Ranger's side. They had all seen Singe's attack, and they wanted to make sure he was alright. Tyler just nodded and gestured after Singe and Hunter.

"We've got them on the run!" He called out as he got up. "Come on guys, we might not get a better chance at this!"

They all ran into a warehouse, finding Singe and Hunter inside, looking around for a way out, but finding that the only way in or out appeared to be the entrance they had come in. The Rangers spread out behind them.

"Looks like you ran into a dead-end Singe!" Ivan taunted them as the Rangers began to fan out, surrounding the two monsters, cutting them off from any obvious escape routes. "Now, face us with what little courage you have foul daemon!"

Tyler saw Singe once again pressing controls on his wrist device. He called out to the others.

"That thing on his wrist, it's a weapon!" Tyler called out. "Get down!"

Unfortunately, his warning came a fraction too late. Hunter threw himself face-first to the ground as Singe swung around, firing off the weapon, striking all the Rangers. They all flew back, hitting the ground and de-morphing. Singe smiled as he saw this, watching the Rangers starting to get up and try to gather their bearings.

"What this?" Koda asked, looking to his Energem and seeing a Zotak Ring surrounding it. "Something on my Energem."

"We can't worry about that now! Dino Charger, Ready!" Tyler called out, clicking his Dino Charger. Unfortunately, all he got was kind of a flat tone coming from it and not much else. He just stared at it. "Energise!"

As he clicked it again, nothing happened at all. He couldn't feel any power coming from his Energem. Looking around, he found the rest of the team staring at their inert Dino Chargers in confusion, clearly experiencing the exact same thing.

"Oh...this isn't good." Chase replied, beginning to back up. "Guys, is anyone else feeling a sudden urge to be...not here?"

"Come Hunter, their Energems are ripe for the picking!" Singe told his cohort as he drew his sword, beginning to advance on them. "I'm sure you can take a trophy or too as well."

"I kind of like the Gold one's coat!" Hunter cackled as they advanced on them. Just as they were preparing to attack, there were some energy blasts, forcing them to cover up and stay back. James, Phillipe and Kendall arrived, morphed and ready for battle.

"That is some nice timing!" Chase said gratefully as the three morphed Rangers stood between them and the monsters.

"They did something to our Energems!" Shelby informed them. "We can't morph!"

Kendall loaded a Dino Charger into her morpher.

"Alright, let's get out of here." She told them.

"What? You want to leave...?"

"Until we figure out what he did, we're down to only three Rangers with powers!" Kendall reminded them. "Run now, fight later!"

With that, she fired a blast that let out a massive flash and dispersed massive amounts of smoke. By the time it cleared, allowing Singe and Hunter to see again, the Rangers were gone.

"Dang it, they got away!" Hunter screamed, throwing down his crossbow blaster. Singe just placed his sword over his shoulder.

"Patience Hunter, there's no need for the hunt to end too early." Singe told him. "Six of the Rangers are now powerless. The other three will be the same way soon enough."

"But we need to get after them..."

"Like I said, there's no hurry." Singe told him, beginning to stroke his forehead. "Now, let's get back to the ship. I'm starting to get a headache."

Back at the Dino Lab, the Rangers were sitting around, taking stock of their situation. Kendall had no option but to cut and run, knowing that if six Rangers had been neutralised so easily, unless they knew how to combat Singe's new weapon, three were unlikely to fair any better.

She was scanning the Red Energem, trying to get a fix on exactly what the Zotak ring was. Keeper had appeared, and the Rangers had asked him if he knew anything about the mysterious rings, but unfortunately the ancient alien had no answers to offer them. Kendall shut off her scanner as she finished inspecting it.

"It's not good news I'm afraid. It appears to be some kind of alien technology, disrupting the connection between the Energem and the Ranger." She told them.

"That must be why we can't morph." Shelby concluded. Kendall just nodded.

"It doesn't move when I try to slide it off." Ivan told her, grunting as he tried to slide the ring off the Energem. Unfortunately, it seemed to either be stuck in place, or bound far too tight for him to simply slide it. They heard a loud banging from the corner and turned around in time to see Koda holding his club, his Energem resting on a rock. He threw his club aside as Alessandra handed him another rock.

"Koda, maybe you should..." Unfortunately, Kendall was too late as he brought the rock down, smashing it into the Energem. Unfortunately, as they inspected the Energem, there wasn't so much as a scratch on the Zotak Ring.

"I no able to smash off either." Koda snarled as he threw the rock aside, fortunately missing all of Kendall's sensitive equipment. Shelby just threw up her hands.

"So what ARE we going to do?" She asked.

"I think these rings absorb energy." Kendall mused as she thought about it. "Maybe if we provide them too much energy..."

She went over to one of her devices and started fiddling with the controls.

"Ms Morgan, what are you doing?" Shelby asked her.

"I'm actually trying one of Koda's ideas...in a way. Brute force." She told them. "I think if I pump enough energy through the transmuter, maybe I can overload it and break it off."

"Isn't that kind of risky?" Riley asked her. Kendall just sighed.

"Probably, but if anyone's got a better idea, I am open to suggestions." She answered. None of the Rangers could come up with an idea though. She loaded the Red Energem into the machine. "I'll just try it with one Energem. If it works, we can go on to the others."

She started up the process, at which all the lights in the lab started to flicker. Everyone became more than a little unsettled as this happened, but looking to the Energem, Kendall could see the Zotak Ring starting to glow and smoke.

"I think its working...I'm turning up the power!" She told them. Cranking everything up as high as it would go, the lights started flickering like crazy, and a lot of sparks started to fly out of many of the machines. Chase and Riley grabbed fire extinguishers just to be on the safe side, but before long, they heard a loud bang, and the Zotak Ring shattered, breaking off the Energem.

"Alright, Ms Morgan, you did it!" Tyler yelled excitedly. "You are AWESOME!"

Kendall, however, was much too cautious to celebrate too early. Now the Zotak Ring was broken, she could inspect the pieces to get a better idea how they worked and figure out a way to prevent Singe simply using more, but in the meantime, she needed to find out if her forceful approach to removing the ring had caused any harm to the Energem. She gulped loudly.

"Oh dear." She whispered. The Rangers all started to crowd around, noticing how worried she looked.

"Ms Morgan, what is it?" Tyler asked her. She just showed him the Energem.

"Your Energem...it's cracked." She told him, sounding apologetic. She knew it was risky, but so far they had found little that could damage the Energems. She had hoped that the Energem would stand up to the power she put through it, but it seemed that weakened by the alien technology in the Zotak Ring, the Energem had succumbed to the stress.

"It's cracked?" Tyler asked, taking it from her and looking at it in alarm. He held it out to Keeper. "Can I still morph?"

"It would be very risky." Keeper told him honestly. "You would risk destroying the Energem completely."

"But...nothing can destroy the Energems. I once dropped mine in front of a steamroller." Chase recalled as he looked to Kendall, looking worried. "You can fix it...can't you?"

"I don't know, I don't think I can." She answered honestly, trying to think about it. "It would require the right combination of pressure and heat...way beyond anything I could safely create in the lab."

"You need heat and pressure?" James asked, smiling. "I think I know just the place!"

"Really?" Chase asked. "Where?"

"Samson Caves!" James replied. Tyler lit up hearing this. It had been almost a year previously he had gone to those exact caves in search of clues about his dad, finding some of his belongings.

"In the main cavern, there's a lava pool!" Tyler recalled. "Heat and pressure!"

"You want to go cave diving in a volcano?" Chase asked them. "Am I the only one that thinks this is a really bad idea?"

"It...just might work!" Kendall said cautiously, trying not to sound too much like she was endorsing this idea. The theory was there, but asking living people to go inside a volcano was not her idea of keeping her team safe. "Dr Navarro, I'm not doubting your experience, but are you sure you can do this safely?"

"What's life without a little adventure?" He asked in response.

"Dad, heads' up!" Tyler said as he threw him a backpack full of equipment. "If we leave now, we can get there before dark."

"Hey, while we're there, I can see if my old E-tool is still there." James replied as he pulled on his backpack. "Fury was on my tail, I had to leave it behind! I always wanted to see if I could get it back!"

"Yeah...dad, there's something I need to tell you about that E-tool." Tyler replied as he and James headed out the door, recalling his first battle after finding his Energem.


	11. Samson Caves

Fury was skulking about in the ship, still angered over his injuries at James' hands. He had chased the Aqua Ranger for ten solid years, but James had always managed to evade him. He had actually lost him a couple of years ago and hadn't been able to pick up the slightest traces of him since then. It was disastrous luck that when he DID show up, Fury was already weakened from battle with the Rangers.

He had gotten lucky that time. He had Fury vulnerable, dead to rights, just waiting on the final blow, but he had to abandon the battle, or execution as the case may have been, when he saw the Rangers struggling with their own battle. Fury knew he was lucky to be alive, but that didn't mean he didn't want to make sure he made James pay for his error in allowing him to live, to repay in kind the humiliation of his current state.

As he made his way past Singe's cell, the cell that USED to be his, he could hear the mechanism that increased the atmospheric pressure working, meaning that likely Singe was inside. However, he was sure he could hear something else as well, he could hear voices.

He moved closer to the door to try and hear. He did indeed hear two voices, one was Singe's, the other...he hadn't heard before. At least, he couldn't recall ever hearing it before. He doubted there were many creatures that would be able to withstand the pressures Singe considered his native environment, none of the remaining prisoners sprang to mind on that account. He was drawing closer when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Fury..." Fury spun around, grabbing the creature and ramming him hard against the opposite wall. The creature didn't make any move to fight back, instead seeming to cover up in a vain attempt to protect himself from any attacks that were to come. Fury just growled as he saw the chef's hat and oversized head.

"Half-Bake!" He growled, shoving the monster away. Half-Bake was considered something of a joke on the ship. Hardly the most dangerous of creatures, he had been picked up...frankly he didn't even know why Sledge had picked him up. His contract wasn't even in the double figures of space bullion, offered up by a dissatisfied customer from his restaurant. His cooking was terrible, but it wasn't like there were too many other volunteers for the job, and so Sledge seemed to have picked him up as a cheap way to tend to the kitchen duties. "What the devil are you doing here?"

"I...I...I saw you out here and wanted to ask what you wanted for dinner!" Half-Bake stammered. "I have some nice stew that should help build you up, help with your recovery..."

Just then, the door to Singe's cell opened up and Singe stepped out, looking to the two of them. Fury wondered exactly how much he had heard, but after a few moments, he just turned and walked away, either satisfied that they hadn't caught him in the act of doing anything suspicious, or simply not seeing them as a threat!

"Hunter!" Singe called out. "Hunter, we've got work to do!"

"Great, there goes my opportunity to find out what he was up to!" Fury commented, looking back to Half-Bake. "Thanks a lot!"

"So...that stew...?"

"Whatever, just send a bowl to my room." Fury grumbled. "It all tastes like garbage anyway."

James and Tyler arrived out in the woods, right up by Samson Caves. It had been a long time since James had come here, but he could remember it well. In his flight from Fury, he had always felt a strong pull towards Amber Beach, something he now understood was the other Energems calling to him to unite with the others. As Tyler secured the jeep and started to work with some of the equipment James gathered up his back pack and came around to the rear. He had taken Tyler on some of his digs, but he was always too young to take anywhere too dangerous. He had been on some basic climbs and caves, but nothing that would present any real danger. James had always dreamed of taking him on his adventures one day, when he was old enough.

"Tie an Alpine Butterfly loop in that rope." James told him as he adjusted the straps on his helmet. "That way..."

"Don't worry, I've done this before." Tyler assured him, showing him the rope he had just tied. James inspected the knot, finding it to be perfect. He had learned to abseil from Special Forces units, and he knew a good few of them that could have taken lessons from Tyler. He tugged on it a couple of times to check it, but it didn't budge an inch. He smiled, looking impressed as he handed it back to his son. He really had missed out on a lot with him, hoping to teach him that himself, but it seemed Tyler had learned very well.

"It seems you have." James agreed. "Nice!"

"The entrance I went in last time is just up here." Tyler told him, gesturing up some rocks. "The bed-rocks there are really solid; they make a great anchor for..."

"This is exactly where I went in too." James answered, looking up the rock face.

"I...guess great minds think alike?" Tyler offered up as a possibility as he started to scramble up some rocks. James followed him, watching his son nimbly make his way up the rock face, sure-footed as a mountain goat. Tyler had always been a good climber, but James couldn't help being impressed by how much Tyler seemed to have learned in his absence. By the time they got to the top, they found the narrow opening that they had used to enter the caves all that time ago. Tyler looked to his father.

"I used this as my anchor last time." Tyler told him, gesturing to a rock. "It's really secure and..."

"And...you obviously didn't look around the side, did you?" James asked him. Tyler just furrowed his brows, before heading around. He found a small little symbol carved into the rock with a rock hammer, something he hadn't noticed the first time he had been here. He remembered James telling him a long time ago that he often liked to leave himself reminders in places he had been in order to help him navigate if he ever had to come back. Tyler ran his fingers across it and then got up, seeing James gesturing to the rock.

"Great minds indeed." James told him. "I wanted to remind myself that this rock was a good anchor."

They tied off their ropes around the rock, before securing their harnesses. They both backed towards the entrance, resting their heels just over the edge.

"You ready for this?" Tyler asked his dad. James just smiled.

"I've waited for something like this for a LONG time." James told him, before starting to rappel down the rock face.

In the Dino Lab, the team were awaiting word from Tyler and James about their mission. It was a frustrating wait for the team, particularly those that still had their Energems bound by the Zotak Rings, knowing that there was little, if anything they could do to help if they were called on.

As they were waiting, they were all passing the time however they could. Shelby had cracked out some books to get some more studying done, while Ivan had broken out an easel and some paints. Inspired by Koda's cave painting earlier, he had decided to re-visit an old hobby. Like many nobles in his time, he had filled a lot of his days with art and literature. While he didn't claim to be a great artist, like many of the true artisans of his era who dedicated their whole lives to it, he certainly did enjoy the hobby, and he was often complimented on his work by others.

Riley was doing some work of his own, trying out various ideas he had to try and destroy the Zotak Rings. Unfortunately, his efforts weren't yielding much success, but it kept him occupied while he waited for word on whether or not the Red Energem had been repaired. He didn't think for one minute it would be the BEST way to deal with the problem, but if they knew they could repair the Energems afterwards, then at least they knew one way to destroy the Zotak Rings.

Kendall was sitting by her computer, looking exhausted and frustrated by the day's events. The computer alerted her to a few city blocks she had managed to short out with her use of power to break the Zotak Ring. The lab had a back-up generator, a precaution she was sure to take in case of emergencies to be able to keep her systems running, but having blown the local grid, much of the rest of the area was still without power. Fortunately, there was nothing vital like hospitals in the affected areas. Currently, Allison, Leanne and Alessandra were putting the food from the restaurant into storage boxes, hoping to save as much of the food that was in the fridges and freezers as they could.

"Damn it Singe!" She snapped as she inspected her scans of the broken pieces of the Zotak Ring they had already managed to destroy. She had ascertained that they were technology, but she had no idea of their origin, or of how they worked. She was hoping to figure out how to reverse-engineer a control unit in order to simply turn off the rings currently suppressing the Energems. "If my aunt were here...GAH!"

"I don't think that's going to help much." Phillipe responded as Kendall hit the monitor in her tantrum. She just glared at him.

"This can't be it, it just can't be!" Kendall ranted as she tried to contain herself. "We've come this far, we've gotten nine Energems and now..."

"And now we still have three that work and they still haven't managed to take the other six." Phillipe reminded her. "We've got you to thank for that."

"You've got me to thank for a fast escape." Kendall responded. "Now I've managed to maybe destroy one of the Energems...something I wasn't even sure was possible!"

"You didn't destroy it; you had no idea that the feedback would cause that damage." Phillipe told her. Kendall just sighed.

"Now we've only got three Energems left and there's nothing to stop Singe just neutralising them too." Kendall answered. Phillipe put his hands on her shoulders.

"Yes there is, we have you." Phillipe told her. "If there's anyone that's going to come up with an answer for this, it's you."

"But we've only got three..."

"Unless I'm very much mistaken you started all this with only two." Phillipe said with a smile. "Now look at what you've built up."

"When did you become so optimistic?" Kendall asked him. Phillipe just smiled at her.

"I've had a lot of practice lately." He answered honestly. Just then, Allison and Leanne came down the stairs, carrying a lot of de-frosted burgers.

"Koda, can you start us a fire?" Leanne asked. "We've saved what we can, but this lot, they're either going to get eaten or end up in the trash."

"No point waiting on an empty stomach I guess." Chase answered with a shrug, grabbing Koda. "Come on big guy, time for an old-fashioned barbecue."

Down in Samson Caves, Tyler and his dad were at the bottom of the cliff-face, standing right by the lava pool. The heat was intense, and the air was thick and smelled of rotten eggs as the sulphur burned around them. Tyler was holding his Energem in a device Kendall had created, essentially a long pair of tongs, but with the Energem itself held in a frame that monitored its condition. He had been holding the Energem in the lava for a good couple of minutes, hoping that they could re-create the conditions that had forged it in the first place.

"Alright, let's see how it looks." Tyler said as he pulled it out, letting the excess lava drip off. He held it over towards James, letting him inspect it. "So, how is it?"

"The crack's only gotten bigger." James replied dejectedly. "We have to go deeper. We need to go hotter, more pressure."

"I can use Dino Morpher X to dig further down into the mantle." Tyler suggested. James just shook his head.

"No, you can't!" He told him flatly. "It's too risky; I can't let you do it!"

"Dad, I know you're trying to protect me but it has to be done!" Tyler responded. James just looked to him.

"Tyler, you can't risk morphing. The crack is already most of the way through the Energem, using it at all could risk it shattering completely." James reasoned with him. "I know this has to be done, I'm just saying...let me do it instead."

"But dad, you've never used Dino Armour X Mode before." Tyler reminded him. James just held out a hand.

"Then I guess I have to learn pretty quickly then." He answered. "I haven't been able to do much for you over the last ten years. Please, let me do this now."

Tyler didn't want to let his dad take this risk, but he had made a good point. It was difficult enough being here, just beneath the Earth's crust. Going any lower, going to the mantle, would almost certainly require their suits to protect them, and he couldn't be sure his suit would be up to the task in the state his Energem was in. He reluctantly handed over his Energem to James, who pulled out his communicator.

"Ms Morgan, its James here." He told her. "The lava isn't providing the heat and pressure we need. I need to go deeper."

"Deeper?" She asked him. "But...you're already..."

"I already know the risk." James interrupted her. "I need you to send me Dino Armour X...and give me the five-minute version on how it works."

"James, if you go down there...there's no way we can guarantee what will happen." Kendall explained. "You have one of only three working Energems. If anything happens to you..."

"If I don't do this, we're just waiting for Singe to come back with those rings and take out the rest of us." James interrupted her. "This way, however slim it is, we at least have a chance."

"Alright, I'm calibrating Dino X Armour for you." She answered. "The data should feed straight into you through your suit. It'll let you know what to do."

"Dino Armour X Charger!" James called out, morphing into his morphed form, and bringing forth the additional armour. He gestured to the entrance of the caves. "Tyler, you need to get out of here."

"Dad, I'm not leaving you." Tyler stated.

"Tyler, there's nothing you can do from here that you can't do from the surface now go!" James told him. Tyler hugged his dad tightly, before heading to the ropes and beginning his climb out of the cave. James waited until he was a safe distance up, before taking a deep breath.

"Alright, here goes nothing." He stated, before launching himself into the air, and spinning rapidly, started drilling straight down towards the Earth's mantle.

Back in the Dino Lab, the team anxiously awaited word from James and Tyler. It was while they were waiting that they heard an alarm. Kendall went to her computer.

"Oh no." She stated. "Alien Bio Signs, heading right for the cave entrance."

"James is heading down to the mantle." Phillipe concluded. "Tyler can't risk accessing his powers. He's a sitting duck!"

"We need to go out there." Kendall concluded. "Phillipe, come with me."

"Ms Morgan, why aren't we going too?" Shelby demanded, looking a little worried about this plan. Kendall just looked to the team.

"Without your Energems, it's simply too risky." Kendall answered honestly. "We've got no idea what we're going to face out there."

"But there are only two of you." Riley reminded her. Kendall just nodded.

"Someone reminded me that all this began with just two." Kendall replied, looking to Phillipe.

"If Singe is there with that weapon..."

"We're backed into a corner; we really don't have any options!" Kendall interrupted Shelby. "Alright Phillipe, it's just you and me."

With that, Kendall and Phillipe ran out of the Dino Lab, morphing as they went.


	12. The Mantle

Phillipe and Kendall arrived at the entrance to Samson Caves, finding a contingent of Spike Balls and Viviks heading for the cave entrance. She could see them looking at the ropes heading down into the cave. One of them seemed to have a sharp piece of rock, and was hammering into one of the ropes, seemingly trying to cut it.

"It appears Singe is sitting this one out." Phillipe commented, looking around that there was only Spike Balls and Viviks in sight. "That's one thing at least."

"I wouldn't put it past Singe to set up an ambush; we can't take anything for granted." Kendall reminded him. "Besides, we need to protect that rope. Without it, Tyler's done for."

"Let's crush these cockroaches!" Phillipe declared as they both ran into the heat of battle, scattering their enemies in a desperate attempt to keep them away from Tyler's life line.

In the cave, Tyler was already on his way back up. He didn't want to leave his dad down in the cave, he wished it could have been him down there, but without being able to guarantee the Energem wouldn't shatter under the strain, leaving him without his suit in the Earth's mantle, he knew he would quite literally stand a snowball's chance in Hell of surviving.

It troubled him a little how much the rope had started shifting as he was climbing up. He had bought a new rope only a few weeks back, and he was always meticulous about his equipment. Having been mountaineering and cave-diving a lot in his time, he knew that quality mattered more than budget. He had heard multiple stories of people ending up in hospital or worse all for the sake of a few dollars more spent on equipment. He would never take any chances.

As he went a bit higher, there was suddenly gave out, and he slid down a few feet, before managing to catch onto the rope James had been using and managing to stop his decent with a jarring halt that felt like it risked ripping his arm off. He looked down over the edge of a crag, to where the remains of his rope and loose rocks tumbled into the lava pool, disappearing with a loud hiss and puffs of smoke.

"Whoa, that was...way too close." Tyler commented, looking back up. "This would be a REALLY bad time to lose my footing."

As he continued his climb, he heard the clashing of weapons getting up nearer the entrance. It didn't take him long to figure out the rope didn't fail on his own. Seeing that he had at least another twenty feet to climb, he re-doubled his efforts, hoping that his friends would be able to save his rope for just a little longer.

Back at the Dino Lab, the rest of the team were sitting around, completely crestfallen at the fact they were impotent to help out. Kendall had warned them not to go into battle without their Energems, and so they had remained behind as she had ordered. With Tyler away, they tended to look to Kendall for their instructions.

"This is worse than the time I broke my arm three weeks before the tourney at La Rochelle." Ivan grumbled. "This is undignified!"

"Ivan, there's nothing else we can do right now." Riley told him. "If you want something to do, you can always help me re-paint the wall in the loading area. That stupid graffiti artist has been here again."

"Again?" Chase asked. "What is he invisible or something? We're here practically all the time. Koda literally lives here and yet he always manages to get away Scot free."

"Graffiti actually kind of cool." Alessandra commented. They all looked at her, making her feel a little sheepish. "Well...it is."

"Yes, like cave-painting, only jazzier!" Koda agreed with his girlfriend. Allison just shrugged.

"I know it's annoying that he keeps messing up the place, but she has a point, that is kind of cool." Allison said as she considered it. "You know, maybe if he found somewhere that gave him permission to do his thing, and, you know, not someone else's property..."

"Come on, have you seen that? It's ghastly!" Ivan chipped in. "The Great Halls in Zandar Castle are lined with REAL art from the masters...

"Guys, are we seriously talking about graffiti right now?" Shelby reprimanded them all angrily, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Our friends are out there right now risking their lives...and we're in here whining about a little writing on the wall!"

"Hey, you're not the one that has to paint over it!" Riley reminded her.

"WHATEVER!" Shelby responded, heading to the table and grabbing her Energem, before heading for the door.

"Uh...Shelby, what are you doing?" Chase asked her.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She responded sarcastically.

"Shelby, without our powers, we're practically defenceless." Riley told her. She just sighed.

"Kind of like you were when Fury attacked your dog? Did you just leave Rubik to it?" Shelby asked him, looking around the room. "I don't know about you guys, but powers or no powers, I'm a Ranger. I'm going."

"I suppose in my first battle I needed to make do with a leather shield." Ivan said, picking up his Energem. "My father just told me...try not to get hit."

With that, the rest of the team grabbed their Energems, for all the good they would do them in their current state, and ran out of the lab. It was only when they got to the parking lot they realised their next hurdle.

"Um...Ms Morgan and Phillipe took the truck." Shelby commented. "And Tyler and his dad took his jeep."

"So which way is Samson Caves?" Ivan sighed. Chase pointed the way, and they all began the long walk towards the caves.

Back at said caves, Kendall and Phillipe were fighting for all their worth, trying to keep the attention of the foot soldiers on them and away from the cave.

"Rapid BLAST!" Kendall called out, opening fire with her Dino Blaster, knocking down a number of Viviks. "Phillipe, how are you doing over there?"

"These things are worse than rodents!" He complained, hacking through some of them with his sword, while he took down another with his blaster. "It's like they're crawling out from behind every rock!"

"Every moment we buy them is worth it!" Kendall reminded him. Just then, Phillipe noticed a Spike Ball heading right for the one remaining rope.

"You there! Come back!" Phillipe demanded, running to try and intercept it. His path was barred by Viviks, preventing him from getting close. "Ms Morgan, over there!"

"I see it!" Kendall called out; taking careful aim, but another Spike Ball knocked the blaster from her hands with his club before she could fire. "Oh no you didn't!"

The other Spike Ball was over by the cave entrance, and knelt down next to the rope, laying down his club. He picked up a sharp rock, and started to work at cutting the rope.

"Now, you know what sounds better than any of Half-Bake's food?" He chuckled to himself, sawing into the rope. "Flash-roasted Ranger!"

It took him a little while, but eventually, the rope snapped and disappeared down the cave entrance. He went over and looked down, hoping to catch some glimpse of the Red Ranger tumbling to his doom. Instead, he was greeted to the sight of Tyler, only inches from the top, hanging onto the rock face for dear life.

"You owe me two ropes!" Tyler yelled, grabbing the creature's hand and pulling sharply. The Spike Ball tumbled past him, screaming on his way down as he disappeared down the hole to his doom. Tyler scrambled the last of the way, getting out of the cave to find the battle still raging. He picked up the Spike Ball's discarded club and started swinging.

"Thanks for the save guys!" Tyler commented.

"Don't thank us yet." Kendall told him. "We've been lucky so far, but Singe can't be far away. He has to be aware of this by now."

Down in the caves, deep within the depths of the Earth, James burst through a final layer of rock, having gone as deep as he possibly could. Here he was, right at the lowest levels of the Earth's crust, right where it was about to meet the mantle. Even through his suit, the heat was intense. It was worse than any heat he had ever endured in his many travels across the globe. As he walked, even the rock beneath his feet was warm, the heat going up through the soles of his boots. He had no doubt that if he wasn't wearing the suit, he'd likely have already burned to ash.

He walked along the ledge, right to the edge of the ledge, right where it met the Earth's mantle. The magma he had seen in the caves above had come from there, driven up with pressure, but it had also gotten colder. Right here, this was as far as he could go; this was the hottest point on Earth he could reach. While the outer and inner core were hotter, there was no way even Kendall's technology would allow him to go through the mantle.

"Alright, here goes nothing." He said as he dipped the Energem into the mantle. He checked the device attached to it, and the readings were going wild. He couldn't help taking a look around as he was down here though. He was sure he had gone further down than any human ever had. This was literally a one-off sight, something he was sure no human had ever seen, or possibly ever would.

"Rusty would be so sick with jealousy if he knew where I was now." James remarked as he considered the significance of this. He suddenly got a thought, before pulling out his Dino Comm. It had a camera feature that could capture still images. He positioned himself directly in front of the pool and held up the Dino Comm. Despite the futility of the effort under the helmet, he smiled for the picture. "This one's for you Rusty."

Elsewhere in the city, the other Rangers were making their way as quickly as they could towards Samson Caves. They still had a long way to go without transport, without their Energems they couldn't even summon their Raptor Cycles. However, as they rounded a corner into a deserted street, they found Hunter barring their path.

"Trying to get to the caves to help your friends?" Hunter teased them. "You don't have the power to get past me! If Heckyl will release me if I get one Energem, I wonder what he'll do if I give him five?"

"I wouldn't hold your breath for that!" Chase answered as he and his friends all rushed to the attack.

"Aye, it is not the weapon that is important!" Ivan declared as they ran towards him. "But the skill of the warrior wielding..."

They were all quickly scattered by Hunter's quick succession of attacks. As he peeled himself off the ground, Riley groaned.

"I know its skill and not weapons that matter, but right now...I'd really appreciate a little firepower." Riley grumbled.

"Firepower you say?" Hunter answered, drawing his crossbow blaster. "Whatever you say!"

He opened fire, scattering the Rangers in all directions. As they got into cover, the others just glared at Riley. He just shook his head.

"I know, I know." He muttered. "My bad."

Up on the surface, Kendall, Phillipe and Tyler were just about done with the Viviks and the Spike Balls when Singe finally showed up. He was in no hurry to engage, and his confidence was obvious in his manner.

"You've morphed for the last time Rangers!" He told them as he opened fire with his Last Blaster. Kendall managed to shove Tyler out the way, but it meant that she and Phillipe took the blast full-on. They were both blasted backwards into a cliff face. The remaining Viviks and Spike Balls were quickly on top of them hoping to keep them off-balance and prevent them re-grouping. Singe saw their desperate plight, but also noted that only two of the remaining Rangers were there.

"I see your Aqua Ranger has better things to do." He stated as he went for his wrist controller. "No matter, I can always get him another time. "Finally, the Energems will be mine!"

As he was about to fire though, the earth split open and rock flew outward, distracting everyone as a streak of energy spiralled out of the ground. James stood in defiance before him.

"Tyler! I have something of yours!" James called out, throwing Tyler his Energem. The Red Ranger's face split into a bright smile as he saw that the crack was now gone. His dad had been right; the right combination of heat and pressure was all they needed to repair the damage. With his Energem intact, Tyler knew there was nothing stopping him from taking Singe down.

"T-Rex Supercharge, activate!" Tyler called out, powering up into his T-Rex Supercharge mode. He opened fire with his Supercharge Blaster, at which Singe could only instinctively cover his face with his hands. It meant that his control unit took the full brunt of the blast. As he lay on the ground, Singe could only look at the shattered pieces of his beloved weapon.

"NO!" He called out. "Blast that Ranger; he's destroyed my Zotak Ring controller!"

"Don't worry about it." Tyler told him. "You'll be next!"

Elsewhere in the city, the other Rangers were struggling against Hunter, who was relishing this hunt. He always loved to hunt prey that were helpless, there was nothing more fun to him than watching animals in a futile attempt to fight or run from him as he casually took pot-shots until he was finally bored and finished them off. The Rangers were finding out to their cost that he was a natural sadist.

"Now, the only thing I can't decide is what trophies to take." He commented. "Do I want heads? Or feet? You don't have much in the way of pelts to speak of..."

"Guys, check this out!" Riley called out. The Rangers all looked to their Energems, which were glowing brightly. They watched as they realised it wasn't the Energems, but the Zotak Rings that were glowing. Before long, they all disappeared in a bright flash.

"Look!" Koda stated. "Rings gone!"

"You know what that means!" Shelby said as they all stepped forward.

"Nothing good." Hunter responded. "Um...can we all talk about this little misunderstanding?"

They all morphed as they stepped forward, bringing their weapons to bear, loading Dino Chargers into them.

"Oh, we can talk alright." Shelby answered. "How about...goodbye!"

"Aw man, how is this fair?" Hunter whined as they all five of them powered up their blades.

"I didn't see you complaining a moment ago." Ivan responded as they all brought their blades down, destroying Hunter. "Monster Vanquished!"

"Alright, now we're done here, let's get to the others." Shelby stated. "Maybe we can help take out Singe before he runs off again."

"That is one candle I'd like to see snuffed out for good." Riley agreed as they all ran off.

Back at Samson Caves, Singe was in an uncharacteristic rage as he attacked the Rangers. His plan in ruins, he was so close to having all of the Energems neutralised and ripe for the picking. With the Aqua Ranger's interference though, his Zotak Rings were useless. He ran straight for the Aqua Ranger.

"You Rangers trashed my controller, now I'll trash you!" He called out, hitting James hard. James was knocked out of Dino X Armour mode as he hit the ground. His trip to the Earth's mantle had taken a lot out of his power levels, but the armour did its job and saved him from Singe's sword.

"HEY! Don't mess with my dad!" Tyler screamed in anger as he attacked Singe, aiming to take him down once and for all. He had already caused his friends and the Earth more than enough trouble. "I'm going to snuff you out for good!"

"Try me!" Singe answered, opening fire with his Last Blaster. It knocked Tyler back a long way, but the armour of his new mode held firm, and gave him enough strength to still be on his feet. Kendall called across from where she was helping the others deal with more Spike Balls and Viviks that had turned up to assist.

"Tyler! Use your T-Rex Supercharge Mode's new ability!" She told him. "With the Energems free, you should be able to access all of our Energem's weapons!"

"Really?" He asked, uncertain as to whether this sounded like much of a power-up. Just being able to use others' weapons? He had already borrowed the Para Chopper on occasion. Still, he didn't think there was much to lose. Loading in the Tricera Charger and the Stego Charger, he was astounded as when the light faded, he found himself not holding the Stego Shield and Tricera Drill he was used to, but had scaled-down versions of their Zord equivalents attached to his arms. As Singe opened fire again, he ran straight through the blast, the Stego Shield batting it harmlessly aside, before sending Singe flying with the Tricera Drill. Tyler grinned broadly as he felt the power course through him.

"When will I ever learn not to doubt Ms Morgan?" He asked himself. "Since you were the ones that came through, this one's for you! Ankylo Pachy Formation!"

As he ran for his enemies, he swung the wrecking ball, obliterating the remaining Viviks and Spike Balls, before bringing the hammer fist right around, smashing it right into Singe's jaw. The rolled away, ending up on his knees a fair distance from Tyler. He glared at the Red Ranger, able to see when the odds were no longer in his favour.

"Your fancy new toys and gadgets can't stop me forever Red Ranger!" Singe said as he faded from view. "Just...for now."

"That might sound like more of a threat if you weren't running for your life." Tyler answered back. "Ms Morgan, these new powers are AWESOME!"

"Thank you." She answered as she felt a wave of relief wash over her. "I never doubted myself for a second...at all...honest."


	13. James' New Role

The Rangers assembled back at the museum following the battle. Having ensured that Hunter wasn't going to be back, they were finally ready to take stock of everything that had occurred over the last couple of days. Between the arrival of Singe, and the Zotac Rings almost bringing them completely to their knees, there wasn't much time to take stock of what they had gained into the bargain. The Aqua Energem had finally been found, bringing with it a brand new Ranger!

As they sat around, listening to him relay his tale, it was difficult to remember that until only two days ago, the man sitting before them was spoken of only in whispers and wild tales. Dr Neil, now apparently going under the name James Navarro, had been a legendary figure in palaeontology, as renowned for his knowledge and his finds as he was his wild theories. He had disappeared for ten long years, leading to most believing he was dead, with most questioning his sanity given his wild theories about aliens and space ships and his belief that the final fate of the dinosaurs was no mere accidental asteroid shower.

Looking at the man before them as he told them his story of what he had seen, as close to the centre of the Earth as any living human had ever been, it was difficult to believe this was the same man that inspired a generation in his field.

"...and then, just as the earth started to rumble, I dipped Tyler's Energem into the lava, and boom. All fixed." James concluded his story. Ivan and Koda in particular seemed enthralled by his stories. In their day, long before computers or television were invented, even before the written word was common knowledge, oral storytelling was the way most of their tales were passed. Ivan was the first to approach him.

"Please, Dr Navarro, you must tell us more." Ivan implored him, eager to hear more. "Tell us, what did it look like down there?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked that." James said with a smile, pulling out his Dino Comm. "They say a picture is worth a thousand words."

"Is that lava?" Ivan asked, seeing the picture James had taken while he was waiting on the Energem repairing itself within the Earth's mantle.

"It most certainly is." James replied cheerfully. Shelby just looked to the picture and gasped.

"You took a selfie?" She asked, rolling her eyes, before looking to her boyfriend. "Now I know where you get it from."

"I just don't know how you could survive the heat!" Riley responded.

"Well, I have Dr..."

"Ms." Kendall corrected him. "It's um...Ms Morgan."

"You don't have a doctorate?" He asked her, looking a little surprised.

"I'm working on it." She groaned, just as Keeper arrived.

"Your victory was impressive today Rangers, and it brings us ever closer to our goal." Keeper announced as he looked around the room. "Though our task is nearing completion, it is not complete yet."

"No, we still have the Silver Energem to find." Phillipe reminded them. "Once we have that, we can end Heckyl for good."

"Yes, but for now, today is an important victory that must be marked." Keeper told them. "Kendall, if you wouldn't mind taking the others upstairs. I am certain that your preparations for the museum re-opening are almost complete."

"I've ordered in a new delivery of stock." Kendall sighed. "Until then, there's a whole lot of food that's just going to end up in the trash, so...I guess the party's on us."

"Phillipe, James, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to have a word with you both." He said as they were about to go. James and Phillipe just looked to each other.

"Keeper, with all due respect...I was going to go back to Margaret..."

"There will be plenty of time for that, I promise you." Keeper assured him. James looked to Tyler and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be right up champ." He told his son, who looked anxious to be separated from him for even a moment longer now that he had finally returned. He reluctantly left with the others, leaving Keeper, Phillipe and James to their discussion.

"So what's on your mind Keeper?" Phillipe asked. Keeper beckoned them both to sit.

"Before I must ask a great favour of you, I believe that I owe you a great deal before I ask you to undertake this last stage of our search." He told them. "Dr Navarro, your theories, the ones that saw you so ostracised by your peers and divided your community, they were not unfounded."

"Well, we know that Sledge brought his ship to Earth 65 million years ago, that much is hardly news." Phillipe responded.

"No, but there is a part of the story that I have not even told the others, it is my greatest shame and deepest regret." Keeper told them with a look of sadness that they had not seen in him before. "When Sledge came to Earth to look for me, I had crashed my ship. The energy crystal that acted as my ship's fuel source had been ruptured and was imminently about to explode. With Fury on my trail, I took the Energems from their casing, and I secreted them within the wreckage. Then...I replaced them with the fuel cell from my ship."

"You booby-trapped Sledge." Phillipe said with an impressed smile. "I always wondered how he came to drift for all those years."

"I had hoped that the fuel cell would destroy him. Clearly I underestimated him and his technology." Keeper continued his tale. "Unfortunately, in my haste to set my trap, I did not think my plan through as thoroughly as I should have. Sledge had been gathering asteroids for sale on the intergalactic market. He had secured them in an electronet being towed by his ship. When the blast disabled his systems..."

"It also disabled the electronet." James concluded, looking completely blown away. His theories, which he had formed from observations of where asteroids had landed and materials found in the vicinity, alloys that would not be forged on Earth for millions of years, he had long touted the theory that the asteroid shower was not a natural event, and there was outside interference from intelligent life forms. "You're...you're saying..."

"I disabled Sledge's ship, and in doing so I secured the Energems from him for all these years." Keeper told them. "But in doing so, I created the single largest extinction level event this planet has ever seen. It destroyed everything, even the brave creatures to whom I entrusted the Energems. Yes, James, you were correct; there was an outside influence on the asteroid shower that wiped out almost every living thing on Earth all those years ago. That influence was me."

"You caused the destruction of the dinosaurs?" James asked him. "You almost caused the complete destruction of Earth?"

"Believe me, there is nothing you could say that could weigh more heavily on my soul than the sadness of knowing what I did to your world." Keeper told them as he concluded his story. "That is why I must ask the two of you to help me find the remaining Energem so that I can unite them once more and end the danger they pose to this world."

"You already know we'll do anything we can." Phillipe responded as he thought about what Keeper had told him. He knew something of responsibility, knowing that the decisions he made at the Embassy impacted a lot of his own citizens and their interests in the wider world. The day would come when he would ascend to lead his whole nation, and literally everything he did would greatly affect the well-being of everyone in Zandar. However, he couldn't imagine making a decision that had the devastating consequences Keeper's had. "The whole team will."

"But the two of you are uniquely placed to assist in ways the others can't." Keeper told them. "James, there is perhaps no one alive that knows more about the true nature of dinosaurs and their habits than you. You alone understand the Titanosaurus, the mighty creature that bore the Silver Energem in ways no other ever could."

"I do." James agreed. "Herds of Titanosaurus roamed all over the continent of Pangea."

"Pangea?" Phillipe asked.

"Earth was originally a single continent named Pangea." James told the Prince. "But following the asteroid shower, a few earthquakes, several other terra forming events, it split up into the continents we have now. The remains of Titanosaurus have been found on literally every continent. It wasn't unusual for them to travel in herds for thousands of miles."

"But then...they can be anywhere." Phillipe gasped. "Which means we literally have narrowed down the search for the Silver Energem to somewhere on Earth!"

"James, your knowledge will be invaluable on this search." Keeper told him. "You are also uniquely placed..."

"You mean I don't have any connections, I have no life holding me back." James spat angrily. "I wonder whose fault that was!"

"So why am I here?" Phillipe asked him.

"You are uniquely placed in a position to assist James in a manner that none of us can." Keeper told him. "I know you have your science institute back home searching, but with James' help, their teams can narrow their search. While as an ambassador, you can use your political position to aid James and his movements as he searches with your teams."

"So...you want me to use my Government position to rubber-stamp James' travels?" Phillipe asked him.

"Not to mention, I've only just gotten my son back!" James snapped at Keeper. "Now you want me to leave again?"

"Dr Navarro, I would never dare to ask this of you if it was not the only path." Keeper assured him. "I cannot make you do this, if you wish to remain I will understand, but know that Sledge and Heckyl will not be the only ones that are after the Energems. Their power was legendary across the universe. The longer they are here, the longer everyone is in danger. This is about more than you and your son."

James couldn't even look at Keeper as he finished his speech. James had lost a lot as a result of the Energem. He had lost ten years with his family that he could never get back. He had lost his wife, who after all those years had given up hope of him returning, and made a new life without him. He had missed out on his son growing up into the capable young man he was now. He always worried how Tyler would grow up with no one to guide him, to help him learn how to deal with all the dangers and terrors and pain that life could bring.

Seeing Tyler in action, he knew that he had figured it out, that now...he didn't need him to protect him. He didn't know if that hurt more than the thought of Tyler being vulnerable without him growing up, knowing that in the end, Tyler hadn't needed him.

However, he also knew that Keeper had a point. James had never faced Sledge, but hearing that he had chased Keeper all the way across the universe not once, but twice, across more than 65 million years let him know how desperate some were to get their hands on the Energems. Hecky had almost decimated the Rangers a couple of times since he had taken up Sledge's place after his destruction. James had personally been hounded by Fury for a decade, all for the Energems. He knew Keeper was right, as long as the Energems were on Earth, they would never be safe. There would always be someone looking for them. James grabbed Keeper's robe and yanked him in close, glaring at him hatefully.

"I'll do your dirty work, on one condition." He growled. "I have your word that once we have the Energems, and we've taken out Heckyl...you take them and you leave. You leave Earth, and you never come back."

"Dr Navarro..."

"A reasonable request." Keeper interrupted Phillipe, who was trying to intervene between the two. "You have no idea..."

"Spare me your speeches. You brought this mess here, smashed up everyone's lives, and now you want us to clean it up for you. Well, that's fine; I'll clean your mess. Just don't expect me to thank you for tearing me away from my son again!"

"If you wish to leave, I can explain..."

"No, that's alright. I'll clean this up for you too." James said bitterly. "At least this time, I'll get to say goodbye."

Upstairs, the team were making the best of the situation, between having the newly-refurbished restaurant all to themselves, and all the food and treats they could ever want. With the power being out for so long, thanks to Kendall blowing the local grid earlier, pretty much everything in the fridge and the freezer was now beyond saving, meaning they all had their choice over what they wanted to eat. As Chase put the finishing touches to a sundae that looked more like a battleship than anything a human being should reasonably be able to eat, he sat back down with Allison.

"Well, this place definitely looks incredible!" Chase commented. "Seriously, I don't think it's looked this good...well...since we got here. Leanne, feel free to wreck the place more often."

"I didn't wreck it, that was Heckyl!" She complained as the others laughed. "Maybe next time I'll just let him walk off with your Energems."

"I think what Chase is trying to say is, you are one heck of a decorator." Riley said as he sat with her, his arm across the back of the seat she was sitting in. She noticed Allison looking at her, giving her a knowing glare, and just tried to ignore it, shoving something in her mouth without looking. She started coughing and spat it out into a napkin.

"What is it?" Riley asked.

"Garlic mushroom." She told them. She could see the way they were all looking at her. "Oh come ON, it's not a vampire thing! I just don't like garlic alright?"

"Well, the good news is that the grand re-opening of the museum is looking to be quite an event." Kendall told them, putting her phone away. "I just got off the phone to Anton, and he just green-lit a major blow-out to celebrate the museum coming back after the gas explosion."

"Gas explosion?" Tyler asked, raising an eyebrow. Kendall just sighed.

"We had to tell people something!" She said, shaking her head. "It's going to be free admission, free food and drink, the whole nine yards. The press is going to be there and everything. We're coming back in style."

"Oh, I so have to invite Erin." Shelby said, looking around the team. Ivan just looked to her.

"Erin, the one that helped you move in with Ms Morgan?" He asked her. Shelby just nodded.

"Which is more than MOST of you did!" She answered, glaring at her team mates. "She's been my bestie since forever. I really want her to meet you all."

Just then, James and Phillipe arrived. James had already packed a backpack, which he held over one shoulder. Phillipe was distinctly silent, knowing what was going to happen.

"Hey dad, you will not believe what we're doing, we're going to have the most raging party to celebrate the museum re-opening! We've got this huge party planned! The press is going to be there and everything!" He looked around to Kendall. "Hey, Ms Morgan! How's that for a main attraction! The world-famous Dr Navarro back from the dead right here at the museum!"

"Tyler, that sounds great, and I really hope you have a great time, but...Keeper and I have been talking." James said, trying to bring himself to say what he knew Tyler would need to hear, and not what he wanted to say. He was still furious with Keeper and the destruction he had brought to the world, but he also knew that while he was gone, the Rangers would need him. Turning the Rangers against him would only weaken them. "We both feel that my skills should be put to better use."

"You're...you're leaving?" Tyler asked him, his heart sinking. His father had only just returned, and already he was going away again. It was like the bad days before he disappeared all over again. James could see the same look on Tyler's face he had when he was eight years old, and it killed him to see it again.

"The search for the Silver Energem is what we need to focus on now." James told him. "Phillipe's got teams searching the globe with means comparable to ours, but that don't have to stick around and fight Heckyl all the time. I'm going to join them on their search, lend them my expertise."

"But you just got back." Tyler protested. James just put a hand on his shoulder.

"This is about so much more than you or me. These threats, they're going to keep coming until we get the last Energem. The sooner we do that, the sooner this'll all be over." James reasoned with him. "The whole world needs us right now."

"Yeah, I know but...I need you." Tyler told him as a tear rolled down his face. James forced himself to remain strong, but inwardly cursing the fate that had led him to this point.

"I've seen you in action, and as much as I hate to admit it, you're not eight years old anymore." James continued. "Trust me; you've proven you can take care of yourself. Hell, you take care of the whole world."

With that, James hugged Tyler. The team around them didn't say a word as he held his son, bidding him farewell after a cruelly short reunion. As they parted, Tyler pulled out his phone.

"It may not be the centre of the Earth, but this one means more." Tyler said, as he positioned himself for a selfie. James put his arm around his son, and forced a smile as they took a picture for his son to remember him by. James could only hope that this time, his search would be short, and his son would be left with more than just a picture on his phone.

 **FIN**


End file.
